The Artificial Sun Also Sets
by NakeBenihime
Summary: Ships: Aizen x Orihime & Grimmhime in beginning. Aizen's plans for Orihime in Las Noches have become rather extreme & demanding, but having her around all of the time is having an uncharacteristic affect on him... Several Bleach characters appear.
1. Red Roses

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 1: "Red Roses"**

"Um... I hope I didn't arrive too late," said Orihime, while rubbing the back of her head with her hand in embarrassment. From the doorway, she gaped at the man she was meant to rendez-vous with beginning to stand from having been seated in his chair. She shuffled her feet faster into the chamber, hoping he'd sit back down again.

"You've done nothing of the sort, my dear," he replied, offering her his outstretched hand as she waltzed ever closer to him. Aizen was dressed in almost all black robes this particular evening, different from how Orihime was used to seeing him attired. His usual white robes were so bright, she was used to squinting at him every time she encountered him before. But, this night, she had no such bodily reflex, for the room was lighted ever so softly and warmly that she could gaze upon him with both of her eyes wide open.

She shook her head and chuckled slightly under her breath at the atmosphere.

"What is it, Orihime-chan?" he asked. Her cheeks began to bloom a rosey hue and that only added to the already established ambience of the setting. She shot a quick glance over at the table in the center of the room and there stood a clear glass vase full of blooming, voluptuous, almost gluttonous red roses beaming from the grayish-black table top. Her eyes widened at them, as if she felt the urge to grab them and fill her nostrils with their sweet, perfumed scent.

"Ah... so, you like the roses I had prepared for you," he said, still hovering next to the table. "I figured you would like them. You do like red roses, don't you, Orihime-chan?"

She felt as though her voice had been robbed from her just at that moment. She could hardly squawk out a word. The preparations for their dinner together, the atmosphere of the room, the roses, and the smell of her favorite dish now filling her awareness was enough to nearly knock the young girl prostrate onto the floor.

"I—yes, I do like red roses, Aizen-san," she finally managed to reply, although rather coyly. "Thank you. They are very beautiful."

She quickly wiped her glistening brow with the back of her hand, hoping Aizen wouldn't interpret the act as a sign of her nervousness. In truth, she was a walking bundle of nerves at this very moment and she only wanted to get through the evening without seeming so incredibly afraid of being alone with him in his chamber. She needed to at least appear to be strong in front of him, for weakness could only be crushed by someone as powerful as him, even if that meant she must collapse later on in her own chamber.

"I feel I must apologize to you," he said as he pulled out her seat for her to sit down at the dining table. "I thought I had turned down my reiatsu enough so that you wouldn't be affected by it, but it appears I was mistaken. Please forgive me. I had no intention of making you uncomfortable."

"Oh, no, you don't need to apologize for anything," she urged, smarting under the realization that he had noticed her discomfort after all. She finally took her seat. "It's just that no one has ever done all of these things for me before."

Both of Aizen's eyebrows rose up on his forehead as if he had no control over them, while his eyes widened into two golf ball-shaped spheres at her. Such a reaction from Aizen Sousuke was most unusual, for hardly had anyone ever before succeeded in rounding out his cunningly slanted-shaped eyes.

"Now, _that_, my dear Orihime, is one of the most shocking things I've ever heard," he mildly retorted, appearing to be in all earnestness...

.(..to be continued...)


	2. Mean Girls

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 2: "Mean Girls"**

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" exclaimed Loly as she leaned her ear up against a glass cup pressed to the outside of Aizen's door. The other teenaged arrancar girl darted over to her after hearing her outrage.

"What'd they say?" asked Menoly, still looking over her shoulder to guard their clandestine actions. "C'mon, Loly! What's going on in there!"

"Man, it is so disgusting!" began Loly as she finally pulled her eavesdropping ear away from the glass. "Orihime's saying stuff like, 'O-M-G! No one's ever done all these things for poor wittle me before, Aizen-san...' she said, in a high-pitched voice while batting her eye lashes and exaggerating her hand gestures.

Then, she continued in her best sexy, deep-voiced Aizen impression, "and, _he's_ all saying, 'I can't _believe_ something like that, Orihime-chan. I must be your first love...'"

"Eww... You're joking, right?" asked Menoly obviously gagging on the report.

"Well, it went something like that, yeah!" Both of them rolled their eyes and planted their hands on their hips in complete disgust. The "chuh's" abounded throughout the echoing hallway. Soon, they heard the shuffle of footsteps approaching and left off their secret mockery for the moment.

"Who's that coming, Menoly?" whispered Loly as her eyes shifted rapidly from side to side.

"As if I'd know—,"

"_Halloo, ladies!"_ suddenly boomed from behind them. As they jerked around, hollering in unison, they saw the shimmering silver hair and tightly drawn smirk of none other than Ichimaru Gin standing a few feet away.

"Oh, it's only you," said Loly very unenthusiastically. "What do _you_ want, Gin? In the habit of sneaking up on people in the hallway much?"

"Of course he is, if he _actually_ gets to scare somebody," retorted Menoly, looking Gin up and down as if he weren't worthy of licking the bottoms of her boots.

"Don't get cross with me just because you're supremely jealous of Orihime-chan," taunted Gin with a wry comeback from one familiar with mean, menacing types of people like himself.

"Hey, you—you take that back!" screamed Menoly at the snickering snake-like man.

"Oh, my," he began, while shaking a correctional finger at them, "you mustn't scream so loudly. Aizen-sama is sure to hear you and he'll know what you two have been up to out here all of this time. Tsk, tsk..."

"Alright, I get it," said Loly, folding her arms in realization of where the conversation was headed. "What do we need to do to keep you quiet, Gin?"

"Whatever makes you think I want something from the _two of you_?" he replied, pulling his usual mocking expression. Their faces dropped as they glanced over at each other in embarrassment, their thin interiors shivering from the cold of exposure.

"Oh, do y'all feel bad now? Did I hit a nerve of insecurity in two scheming teenage girls?" He giggled impishly. "That was about has hard to do as it is to find a hollow with a hungry appetite!"

The girls lunged at him with festering rage, but halted suddenly when he raised a new finger.

"But," he continued, "on the other hand, it would be nice if the two of you would spend some time with me in my chamber. I do grow ever so lonesome around here with no one to talk to anymore."

"_You pervert!"_ came the resounding reply from the two girls. From there on they began their onslaught of expletives and name-calling, a cacophony of youthful, angsty estrogen and delicious, spritely wit all for him. One of the girls even managed to throw something book-sized at his shoulder as he tried to saunter off down the hallway.

"Well, you don't have to be so rude about it," he said, his face dropping but for a brief moment. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed..."

And, then he was gone before they could reply, too far out of reach for their aim and darting insults. But, naturally, as Gin traipsed over to his own domain, he managed to gain an even wider grin from his lively encounter with them...

(...to be continued...)


	3. Thick Chocolate Coating

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 3: "Thick Chocolate Coating"**

"Aizen-san," started Orihime as she quizzically contorted her eyebrows at the entry door inside Aizen's chamber, "I've been hearing a lot of commotion going on outside your door for quite some time now. What's going on out there?"

"Oh, that," he remarked nonchalantly, "It's probably Loly and Menoly eavesdropping on our dinner date. Never mind them, Orihime-chan. You are with me now and you have no need to fret over the goings-on outside these walls."

He reached across the dining table and gently rubbed the back of her hand as they both sat and ate a feast truly fit for an emperor. Aizen's hypnotic gaze upon Orihime's large round eyes and cute little button nose had her tugging at her collar more than once. She spent the better part of their evening together almost as red as the roses in the center of the table.

"Did you enjoy your meal, my dear?" he asked, tossing an elaborately embroidered cloth napkin onto the table after setting down his chop sticks.

"Oh, yes! Absolutely!" she rushed to exclaim, fearing that her anxiety and trepidation for being there had given him the impression that she was not satisfied with his meal preparations.

"This dish is my favorite," she said pointing to a mostly eaten bowl of rice, fish and vegetables. "And, you got the spices just right, even for _my_ tastebuds! Although, my tastebuds are way off, I still think it was the best I have ever eaten."

"I'm so happy to hear it. It pleases me greatly that you found it so delicious."

Aizen began to stand from his seat while keeping his gaze fixed upon her countenance. Orihime blinked, a bit confused as to why he was leaving the table already. She watched him saunter over to a small, dressed table a few feet behind him where sat a rectangular bright red box that she had not noticed before. Indeed, her nerves made her far too narrow-sighted to notice all of the trappings in his chamber. This made her nearly start an inspection just to discover what she had been too afraid to see earlier, but she resisted the temptation when Aizen began to steer the conversation in a new direction.

"Orihime-chan," he began, "For dessert, I hope you like chocolate. I have the finest chocolates the world has to offer right here in this red box."

He picked up the box and waltzed over to her still seated in her chair at the dining table. He held out his hand for her, while pulling the back of her chair away from the table. Taking his offered hand, she rose from the chair. Standing face-to-face with him, Aizen absolutely towered over her mere five-feet-one-inch frame. At eye-level, she could only see up to the top row of his abdominal muscles, or rather, where they would be have been had they been visible to her.

"Um, of course I love chocolate," she said more shyly this time. Her suspicions of Aizen's next move started to register very high on her mental alert. She knew she must stay composed, but very, very wary.

"Then, let me feed you this chocolate," he said, opening the lid to the box. He picked up a round, thickly chocolate-coated candy and raised it to her lips, which, by now, were quivering along with every other part of her body.

"Please, take a bite, Orihime-chan," he said as sensuously as he could verbalize the command. "I'd very much like it if you could tell me how it tastes."

Like a deer caught in the headlights, she had not the power to look away from his gaze as he bore into her soul with his piercing, hypnotic eyes. With every passing second, she fell more and more under his warm spell, and although she was never a girl to consent to doing such an act, she felt overly compelled to comply with his wishes. As she gently parted her lips, it was as if time itself had slowed down, she remaining fully aware of what she was doing, but completely incapable of preventing herself from doing it.

Upon her lips parting, he deftly slipped the chocolate piece into the small opening she gave him into her mouth, and she began to chew... slowly, but surely she ground and minced the rich chocolate and gooey caramel with her teeth. When the flavors hit her tongue, she jerked her head upwards and reflexively swallowed the tantalizing contents down her throat with a loud gulp. The only thought she could create was that she had never tasted anything so powerful and enrapturing as that piece of chocolate.

"You don't even need to tell me that you like it," said Aizen. "Your body language tells me _exactly_ what you are thinking, Orihime... Now, please do me the honor of feeding _me_ one of those delectable chocolates, my dear."

Surely, if Orihime had been in her right and logical mind at that moment she would have easily resisted this request, but she was far from that frame of thinking now. As if he were the puppet master and she the doll with his strings attached to her, she picked up a candy and, raising it to his mouth, placed it onto his parted lips. She even maintained her composure despite realizing that while in the act, two of her fingers had lightly brushed his wetted lower lip and the tip of his tongue by accident...

(...to be continued...)


	4. Vigilance

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 4: "Vigilance"**

"Aw... I think this time I'm really gonna puke!" declared Menoly as she ran her rigid fingers through her short spiky hair. The other hand had to forcefully cover her mouth as her cheeks puffed out like a blow-fish.

"This sucks!" exclaimed the other eavesdropper, Loly, still holding the glass cup to the outside of Aizen's door. Despite over-hearing just about everything Aizen and Orihime had been conversing about, she somehow conveniently managed to not hear the part where Aizen said openly that he suspected she and Menoly were the cause of all the racket from the hall.

"What are we going to do to her, Loly?" asked the spikey girl in a lowered, devilish tone. Her fists clenched as she darted through a maze of malevolent ideas in her mind.

"I don't know, but we'd better make it good because it sounds like Aizen getting to like this chick just a little too much." Loly's eyes squinted and the left side of her mouth curled up into a mischievious grin. "Feeding her fine chocolate, eh, Aizen-sama? We'll see about that—"

"—You'll see about what?" asked a curious, gruff voice from just over her shoulder. Upon hearing it, both girls turned into the coldest stone, unable to make even the slightest peep to save their lives. Turning their heads towards each other like a ticking clock, one second at a time, they eyed behind themselves to confirm their worst possible fears had indeed come true. The man that stood behind them...

"G—G—Grimmjow?" they said together, confused and stunned.

"What are you two doing in Aizen's hallway?" he asked in a unamused tone. He had been skulking around outside Orihime's chambers and heard the raucous from Aizen's direction. He peered at the girls hunched over in terror with a deep, dangerous glare that filled them with total dread. Since they seemed to lack the ability to respond, he leaned in closer to their ears.

"I said, 'what are you doing here?' he repeated louder this time, his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his white hakama. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Uh—we, uh..." stuttered Loly as she attempted to straighten-up her hunched frame. Menoly fixed her eyes on his dead-serious face without ever blinking even once. She could only shutter and inadvertently gasp in the state of shock she was in.

"Tell me something," he started in a somewhat more affable tone, "is Orihime all alone in there with Aizen?"

"Y—yes," came the affirmative from the lesser terrified girl, still trembling near the door.

"And, you both have been listening to every word they've said, is that correct?"

"Yes," replied Loly, her voice evolving to resemble the high-pitched articulation of that of a three-year-old little girl. Both of them were beginning to relax and stabilize slightly as they sensed the gentler tone of Grimmjow's delivery.

"So, then I can count on you both to give me a full report of _exactly _what's going on in there, right?"

"Uh, r— right, sir!" said Loly, the only girl capable of speech thus far, with an expression more in accordance to her current adolescence. Menoly managed to nod up and down at him in agreement to the terms, which implied that Grimmjow would not harm nor tattle on them, as long as they carried out his personal demands.

"Very well, then," he said, his hands still pocketed, although more shallowly, as was his usual custom. He turned to move away down the hall, gaining a few yards of distance between himself and the girls at Aizen's door. At last relieved and consequently drenched in sweat from the encounter, the girls resumed their conspiratorial battery against their favorite target of jealousy.

"As soon as I get another chance," said Loly, feeling the heated, ornery adrenaline coursing through her veins again, " I'm gonna tear her hair ou—,"

She stopped, suddenly realizing Grimmjow had not yet walked far enough away to not be able to hear them anymore. They both very cautiously glanced over at him, gasping. He had come to a dead stop at the end of the darkened hallway, his back still facing them.

"Nevermind!" shouted Loly, half giggling in an attempt to brush-off the near-violent declaration with a light-hearted air of teasing.

"You better never mind _that,_" he shot back at them. Satisfied, he resumed his exit of the scene...

(...to be continued...)


	5. Carpe Diem

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 5: "Carpe Diem"**

"Thank you, Orihime," said Aizen to the girl as she watched him lift the piece of chocolate with his tongue from her fingers into his mouth. Before she could pull her left hand back to her side, he quickly caught her wrist with his right hand and held it up to his face, her fingers dangling helplessly. Peering into her large, trembling brown eyes, he slowly masticated the candy with his teeth and swallowed.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Mmm... most delicious," he gently exhaled, opening his bright eyes once again onto her awestruck countenance. Still holding up her wrist, his mesmerizing gaze upon her deepened as he leaned in closer to her face. He wrapped his left hand around her hip, caressing the indentation just below the small of her back, above her rounded rear.

Her eyes grew larger with anticipation as he pulled her closer into his bosom, his face keenly advancing ever closer to hers. Breathing in his natural musk, she reflexively placed her free hand onto his solid chest, his lips fully aligned with hers. She slightly parted her lips as she felt the piece of his wavy brown hair that dangled over his brow, softly brush across her cheek. He slowly began to close his eyes, and she followed suit by gently closing hers, she only vaguely aware of the collision course they were both traveling towards each other... Closer... closer... ever closer...

"No!" she screamed, turning her face away from his lips as they barely scraped past hers. She pushed back against the wall of his chest with her hand, wedging her arm in between herself and him. She noticed how heavy his large body was compared to anything she had ever tried to push or hold up before, but, nevertheless, she exerted all her might to force him away.

"Hmm?" bemused Aizen, rather confused by this sudden attack of morals. He let go of both her hand and hip, allowing her to take a step back. Staring at the ground, she stood silently before him, trembling and nearly bursting into tears as she held both her hands together over her heart.

"Orihime-chan," began Aizen in his most benevolent tone, smiling enough to show his white teeth, "you have rejected my advances towards you..."

His grin only widened to see her frame quake.

"But, I am not angry with you," he kindly revealed, his eyes softening at her. "I can only have even more admiration and respect for you and your moral courage."

Then, in a flash of shunpo before she could realize what was happening, he wrapped his two fervid arms safely around her body, engulfing her in his brimming warmth.

"Aww...," he sighed while holding her, as if excited by some realization, "you're sweetness and innocence make my heart burst within my breast. I can scarcely contain myself. This is the effect you have on me, Orihime. You are a woman truly worthy of the calling I have intended for you."

Suddenly, her eyebrows drew together as her face smashed up against his chest. Her concern heightening, she gently pulled away again from his embrace, fixing both of her wide eyes sternly on his beaming visage.

"The calling you intended for me?" she asked, her expression losing any amusement she may have had to spare for his antics up until now. "What, I don't— "

"—You see, my dear," he interjected, "I have had it in mind from the start, granted you gave me further reason, to have you reign with me on the throne of Heaven."

Her countenance sank as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head while gaping at him. She had had to deal with plenty of strange shenanigans from Aizen ever since she arrived in Las Noches, but what he was proposing now was far from comprehension.

"Yes," he proceeded, despite her utterly appalled expression, "I do intend to make you my queen so that we may rule as gods together..."

(...to be continued...)


	6. Mirror Flower, Water Moon

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 6: "Mirror Flower, Water Moon"**

Orihime drooped more and more from the weight of the shock of this news as each second passed. Conversely, Aizen's posture grew more erect and valiant with each word he declared.

"You mean marriage?" she asked breathless.

"Precisely," he merrily replied. "You have the power of the gods, Orihime, and my ambition has always been to ascend into the realm of the gods and rule over all worlds. Your power can even be considered greater than my own, for I only have the ability to make people _think_ form and substance are what I choose to make them believe they are. But you, my dear, have the ability to actually_ change_ form and substance themselves. I must have such power in my possession."

She turned away from him, bowing her head towards the ground, her hand holding her agitated forehead. Her thoughts raced with the unprecedented nature of his wishes— wishes she never would have considered from him in a thousand years of contemplation.

"I want you to choose, all on your own to become my wife," he said to her back. "This way, you will take responsibility for your own decision. You won't feel the urge to resent me or think me your captor."

She jostled a bit at hearing this, but ultimately made no serious movement.

"But, of course," he stated, almost as if to negate his entire declaration, "you really have no choice in the matter. You _will_ become my wife whether you choose to, or not. But, I implore you to _choose_ this and not make me force your hand."

"_Gah!" _she blurted, abruptly turning to face him. But, she realized she couldn't look at his face, and even glancing in his general direction tormented her at this moment. He could see by the melancholy look on her face that she felt trapped and helpless. This gave way to some tears as they streamed gently down her cheeks. Despite how cruel of a man Aizen tended to be, these warm little tears had the effect of melting the frigidity of his heart for a brief, rare moment.

"Ahh...Orihime," he began, raising a hand and walking closer to her. "Please, don't cry, my dear. It breaks my heart to see you like this."

He placed his hands on her shoulders so gently she could barely feel them. But, what she did feel was an unexpected warmth and comfort emanating from his being.

"I realize I have made you weaker and I apologize for that because I, rather, have every intention of making you stronger." She ceased her sobbing and blinked a few times, trying to process his words in her constant chaotic mind.

"So, please, don't take my proposal the wrong way," he continued. "I intend to_ give_ you everything you've ever wanted and make you more powerful than you could ever imagine."

Another blink at this amazing statement and she glanced up at his face, a face that looked back at her with a sincere desire for her own personal happiness. It seemed truly unmistakable, so she thought. He began to wipe the tears from her face so carefully, so lovingly, she needed to close her eyes to soak in the unusual-for-her experience.

"You will be _so_ happy, Orihime," he whispered, as he held her round face in his strong hands and pulled his fingers through the strands of her silken hair. "I will make you _so_ happy..."

He leaned forward and kissed the center of her forehead so sweetly she would have shook her head back-and-forth if he had not been holding up her face. Her eyes grew large and wide as she peered into his countenance, his large honey-colored eyes and his full lips, sponging it all up and reaching a conclusion on the sum of the parts.

"_Why do I see his face?" _she mumbled to herself under her breath.

"Why do you see whose face?" he asked, suddenly perplexed.

"_Onii-chan,"_ she whispered, tearing up, deaf to his question.

"Do I remind you of someone you love?" he asked her, this time more fully understanding her state of mind.

"Oh," she said, snapping out of her trance a little, "it's my older brother, Sora. He was like a father to me and raised me until he died a long time ago. Then, earlier this year, I found out he had became a hollow and then he tried to attack me, but Kurosaki-kun protected me. My brother ended-up realizing the horrible thing he was doing and used Kurosaki-kun's zanpakuto to exorcize himself so he could go live in the Soul Society."

"That's quite a remarkable story," said Aizen, still holding her. "It sounds like your brother loved you very much." All she could do was close her eyes and nod to confirm the truth as the pain of his loss began to well-up inside her heart.

"Do you want to be with your brother again, Orihime-chan?" asked Aizen with a smile and sweet eyes. Shocked, she shot a look back up at him with longing round eyes that hardly questioned how such a thing could be possible. "Usually, souls of the departed never reunite with family members from their living human days, but as King of Soul Society, and you faithfully by my side, I can find your brother with great ease."

Now her eyes grew wider than ever before, reaching their absolute limit of expansion.

"What?' she trembled to say with a weak and shaky voice.

"It's true. I will be able to do this once I ascend the throne of Soul Society. From such a lofty precipice, one can see everything and everyone..."

Suddenly seized by instinct, she threw her arms forcefully around his torso, squeezing him harder than she had ever squeezed anyone. Aizen's eyes bugged out of their sockets as if her squeezing were the cause. Then, his eyes returned to normal and he smirked, a short giggle escaping his lips as he wrapped his own arms reciprocally around her body.

She held onto Aizen so tightly as if he would fly away forever if she were to let go. She held him not so much because she thought he was Sora, but because he was now the bridge that connected her to Sora, and this was the closest she could be to _him_...

(...to be continued...)

**NOTES**: "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" (the title) is the literal translation of the name of Aizen's zanpakuto. The mirrored flower and the water-reflection of the moon suggest that they are _visual_ _images_ rather than the real things. To desire these images is to chase after an illusory dream, like Aizen's dream of becoming God (or the Sun) and Orihime's desire to reunite with her deceased older brother.


	7. Bolt of Blue

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 7: "Bolt of Blue"**

The door to Aizen's chamber swung open from the outside as Orihime stood in the doorway. Aizen, standing behind her as she faced away from him, gazed down at the back of her head with a contented grin, the same grin he had always worn whenever he realized something had gone very much his way. She turned around to glance up at him one last time for the evening.

"I'm so happy our dinner went so well, Orihime," he said to her with that infamous grin. "Now, you will be escorted back to your own chamber."

She nodded at him while holding her hands together over her heart and turned back towards the hallway. Several feet away and slowly appearing out of the fading darkness, she could see a figure approaching with his hands in his pockets, wearing all white from head-to-toe and half a horned mask on his head.

"Ulquiorra," said Aizen, stepping out a few feet into the hallway and placing a gentle hand onto her shoulder from behind, "you're just in time. Please safely escort Orihime back to her quarters for the night."

"As you wish, Aizen-sama," said Ulquiorra, very agreeing and emotionless, as he bowed his head slightly in the direction of his master.

Orihime began to walk over to the Arrancar, but just then, she noticed two people lying motionless on the floor up against the wall, on either side of the door.

"It's Loly and Menoly!" she exclaimed. "What happened to them?"

Despite being sprawled so obviously near the door, Aizen only took notice of them lying on the ground just as Orihime pointed them out.

"Hmm...," said Aizen, looking down at the two of them, "I wonder if Grimmjow killed them again."

He turned to face the interior of his room and stepped back inside, shutting the door behind him. Orihime, very distracted by the girls, peered over at nearby Ulquiorra as she bent down to Loly.

"What did you do to them?" she demanded, furrowing her brows at him.

"Absolutely nothing," he stated very matter-of-factly in his defense. "They must have heard something they did not like while eavesdropping on you and Aizen-sama. They certainly did not end up in this state from an attack since neither of them have any apparent injuries."

Orihime knew he was right about that. She had examined both of them closely for a minute and found no evidence of physical harm done.

"Come with me, woman," he commanded, "it is time for you to return to your room now."

Since she couldn't detect any obvious injuries on the girls, she figured they had simply fainted for some peculiar reason. Complying, she stood back upon her feet and followed the path blazed by her half-masked escort, whereupon she returned to her room and proceeded to turn in for the night.

The early next morning was ushered in by the whaling sound of a fist ferociously pounding on the outside of her chamber door. Awakened by the loud wrapping noise, she lumbered out of bed over to it to find that the culprit was none other than the Arrancar, Grimmjow.

"Man, you really sleep soundly, don't you," came the terse remark from the lively blue-haired man, as he slid into her room a little more deftly than usual. "I had to come early this time because Ulquiorra's out on an assignment for Aizen right now. I guess Aizen thinks you're extra safe when you're asleep, or something."

"I didn't know about it," muttered Orihime, barely able to keep her droopy eyelids open. She sloshed back over to her bed, her arms dangling heavily from their sockets.

"I didn't expect you to," he responded as his gaze upon her grew concerned. "You look totally out-of-it. I wanted to talk to you about something, but this is the only time I'll be able to."

"You can," she said softly, pulling the covers over her body as she lay on her back. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

"I wanna know what happened last night in Aizen's room," came the topic of conversation as Grimmjow stood a few feet away from her bedside. Just as her eyes were beginning to close, they popped open again, but very widely this time. She turned to his direction as she propped herself up on an elbow.

"You know I was there?" she asked, the concern growing in her ever widening eyes.

"What?" he began to laugh. "You didn't think I'd find out? Everybody knows you were with him last night, Orihime. It's been the talk of Las Noches for the past twelve hours now."

"Oh, I didn't realize that," she said, looking down at her lap, her face dropping with embarrassment.

"It's okay," he said, jumping on top of the covers of her bed as she still lay under them. "I know everything that happened."

"How is that possible?" she asked as he sat on her legs and started rubbing them, slowly trying to remove her covers.

"I made Loly and Menoly tell me what they heard from your conversation," he confessed, succeeding in exposing her bare legs to the open. He proceeded to sit on her thighs and bury his face into her plentiful breasts, pulling away the white kimono she was wearing as a night gown, as it covered her cleavage. She instinctively grabbed the robe out of his hand and covered up her breasts again, shrinking back into her pillow as he pushed his forceful, hairy blue head deeper into her bosom.

"What's wrong?" he asked, coming up for air when he finally noticed the tension building up in her body. "I knew it! It's the stuff that happened that those brats couldn't hear, isn't it?"

Orihime only stared back at him with unblinking eyes and a frightened gaze.

"Tell me, Orihime," he began, growing more and more serious, "tell me what really happened in there last night..."

(...to be continued...)


	8. The Vessel Grim and Daring

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 8: "The Vessel Grim and Daring"**

Grimmjow placed his hands on Orihime's shoulders and squeezed them a little while sitting face to face with her on her bed. He glared at her with all the feeling he could possess, trying to crush her silence under his stern gaze. She blinked at him, contorting a rankled expression with her eyes and forehead. It only served to agitate him more to see her solidifying in a resolve to stand-up for herself.

"What really happened in there with Aizen, Orihime?" he demanded again, gritting his teeth and sliding his gripped hands from her shoulders down to her upper arms.

"Nothing happened, Grimmjow!" she finally proclaimed, her face plunging forward so as to force him to pull his head backwards away from her. His grip began to tighten to the point where she felt very real pain, as his entire body began to tremble with anger.

"You're telling me that you were all alone with Aizen in his room last night, and he never _tried_ to do anything to you? You expect me to believe that? We're talking about Aizen, a man who can and does whatever he wants and no one has the power to stop him, and you think I'm going to just stand here and believe you when you say that _'nothing happened?'_ I don't like sharing my women with other men, Orihime!"

"He tried to kiss me, but I wouldn't let him," she admitted, at last breaking free from his grasp as she tore his hands from her arms.

"That's what I'm talking about," he said, standing up from the bed, "he did _try_ to come on-to you, like I figured."

"And, like I said, I wouldn't let him," she hurriedly blurted. Standing as firm as stone, he peered into her large brown eyes for a long moment, searching for the truth of her words.

"Okay...okay," he relented as he shuffled his feet and shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his hakama. "I believe you. I know _you're_ not a liar. You're a good, trustworthy girl and I have no reason to think otherwise."

"Thank you," she said, nearly doing a double-take at him. She cracked a small grin at his flattering words. He moved to her bedside, blinking softly and raised a hand to her face, cupping it gently as he glided his coarse fingers over her buoyant cheek. Bending over, his face in her face, he gazed longingly into her eyes for what seemed to her to be several minutes, but was really only a moment, as she gazed back into his deep, clear ocean-blue eyes.

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the bed, and while pressing her stomach up against his face, he hoisted her entire body up. Holding her above his head towards the ceiling, he laughed and giggled as he spun around several times in the same spot. She, too, began to laugh and enjoy the feeling of being spun around by very strong, protective arms, the act being a gesture of Grimmjow's playfulness which endeared him to her so heartily.

After a few spins were spun, and before they could take their physical toll, he ceased and set her back down to the ground firmly on her bare feet again. Suddenly, she glomped at his bare, hulking chest, that which was visible through his open white jacket. He let out a brief chuckle as he was caught in surprise at the lunge.

Grimmjow was warm, always warm to the touch, and he radiated it from his being, so she recalled in her thoughts as she nuzzled her face into his sinewy cleavage. The warmest spot was just over his heart and she placed her long, graceful fingers on it and slid them tenderly over the smooth, massive scar that ran from his collarbone down to his navel. She felt a twinge of sadness within the pit of her stomach for the origin of that scar, born from warring and fighting to no end in a senseless cause that offered no true benefit to him in the end.

Suddenly, he pulled her head away from his bosom, lacing his fingers through her silky hair.

"Well, if you didn't get a kiss last night, then the right man will have to give it to you now," he declared, bending down, planting a firm and solid kiss onto her partially opened lips. He seemed to enjoy the taste of her mouth and decided the second time to run his tongue over her lips, licking them like a cat trying to sponge a bowl of milk completely dry. Next, he moved to the side of her neck, kissing, nuzzling, licking every square inch of that part of her body he could reach, every act electrifying the very core of her soul.

They waltzed over to the large, white, cushiony couch where, in a tight embrace, Grimmjow lay on his back with Orihime glued on top of his body, once again, burying her face into his warm bosom. Such a scene of relaxation and contentment produced watery, closed eyes and mild grins on both faces, and Orihime swore, from her own perception, that she could hear Grimmjow purring from his diaphragm, as her head moved up and down with the heave and fall of chest.

Then, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She jerked up from his body and sat near his boots on the couch cushion, pulling the opening of her white kimono over her buxom chest with her hands. Grimmjow immediately opened his eyes at her, perplexed.

"What is it?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"I just realized that you don't even know about the most important thing that happened last night," she said, raising herself to her feet. "It's a real doozy, Grimmjow."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as his voice grew raspy and harsh. He sat up on the couch readying himself for the bomb to drop.

"Aizen wants to marry me. It's the real reason he brought me here and why he had me over for supper last evening. He desires my power so much, he insists that I be by his side forever."

"Those stupid little whores completely forgot to mention _that_ part!" he exclaimed, quickly hopping to his feet.

"They were probably afraid of how you'd react if they told you," said Orihime in defense of those eavesdropping girls.

"So, Aizen's making you marry him, eh?" he said under his breath, the words nearly choking him as he spoke them. "His corruptness knows no boundaries. I _cannot_ forgive him for this."

"I have already decided that I will _choose_ to marry him," declared Orihime with a firm resolve —head held high and chest poking out.

"Saying that is not going to relax me, Orihime," he said, his eyes drooping just as the sky calms right before a raging storm ensues. And, then, all at once, he erupted into a whirling tirade, screaming, _"He's gone too far, this time! He has to be stopped!"_

"Grimmjow, no!" she urged, "You can't confront Aizen—you'll be killed!"

"_I'm gonna _jack-slap_ that greasy-haired, pretty boy shinigami back to the underworld where he came from!" _

Orihime could only remain silent and confused by his maniacal words as she stood near him, breathless and panting.

"Besides," continued Grimmjow, "he's always looking at me with those 'bedroom eyes' and it makes me frickin' uncomfortable..." And, with that, he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Orihime to grimace at the thundering clap...

(...to be continued...)

**NOTE:** The chapter title, "The Vessel Grim and Daring," comes from a line in Walt Whitman's (an American poet) poem, "O, Captain! My Captain."


	9. Number One Protection

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 9: "Number One Protection"**

Gin shuffled his curious feet down the long, dark corridor as he entered one of Las Noches' large parlors. It had been partially lighted by the artificial sunlight which trickled into the high-vaulted room through the small windows located just beneath the ceiling. He was draped in his usual attire, long, flowing white robes and a lot of bunched-up fabric, much more than he had any need of, considering his very slender build. But, the clothes were a product of Aizen's fashion sense and he didn't really care about fashion enough to oppose the designs of his wardrobe. So, tolerate them, he did.

Before the stale, stagnant air of the open room could intrude upon his nostrils, he happened upon a very irate Grimmjow raging out of a nearby room and hurling its door shut behind him. It was then that Gin realized the door belonged to the room that held Inoue Orihime, and the mood that Grimmjow appeared to be in only heightened his fascination with the circumstances behind it.

"Grimmjow-kun!" hollered Gin in a friendly voice as he raised a hand to him. "How are you this morning? Looking well, I see..."

The light blue-haired man stopped dead in his tracks, half turned away, looking back at him from behind without turning his head all the way around. Even from that angle it was clear his annoyance was pricked by the ever-smiling man's discommodious greeting.

"What do _you_ want, Ichimaru?" he asked gruffly and suspiciously.

"Want?" retorted Gin, "I don't want anything in particular right now. I'm merely engaging in my favorite pass-time—walking around everywhere, observing people—that kind of thing. Although, I find it rather difficult to do with these bulky clothes I have to wear all of the time. They certainly weren't made for nosy people like me."

He snickered and grinned, tugging at the cloth, as he anticipated his enjoyment level accelerating in the coming moments. Grimmjow only made a "chuh" with his mouth and when he was ready to really let Gin have it, did he finally turn to fully face his direction.

Just as he was about to unleash a torrent of expletives at the irritating snooper, a loud voice hailing from somewhere nearby began to fill the room.

"_Hey, Grimmjow!" _was the sound suddenly bounding off the walls with no source in sight; until, suddenly, a spiky orange-haired teenager wearing a black kimono and hakama could be seen darting towards him from a darkened corridor, frantically flailing around his right arm.

"_Grimmjow! Wait up!"_

"Kurosaki?" mumbled Grimmjow under his breath. Gin cracked an even wider grin at the unexpected appearance of the impertinent young man.

"Oh, this day gets more interesting by the minute, doesn't it?" he said giggling to himself far too quietly for the other two to hear him. It was then that he realized he ought to act like he was leaving, but stop at the corner so as to hear their conversation without being visible to them. Slowly, he began to scoot away to the far corner of the room towards the entrance of another dark corridor to conceal himself.

"What do you want, Kurosaki?" asked Grimmjow, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"I want to know where they're keeping Inoue," said the newcomer, all out of breath and panting from the long run.

"You still harping on rescuing her?" he asked, half-turning away as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Why?"

"What do you mean, _why_?" said Ichigo, his eyes popping open. "Bringing Inoue safely back home with me is the only reason I'm here! Remember I told you that when we were fighting the last time in that big open space, and she was nearby watching us..."

"Of course I remember!" exclaimed Grimmjow as Ichigo rested a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think I am, senile or something?"

"Well, then you'll remember that I told you I came to fight and defeat those who were keeping Inoue here, which is what I did. Well, okay, so far I've only defeated _you_, but I still plan on defeating whomever else I need to."

Grimmjow quickly yanked his shoulder away from Ichigo's hand and grunted in some sort of defiant acknowledgment of these statements. Then, he started clearing his throat as if to cover-up his apparent discomfiture.

"Oh, my bad," chuckled Ichigo, noticing the rising tension in Grimmjow. "I guess I shouldn't say that around you, about beating you up and all."

"_Shut up!"_ shouted Grimmjow at the top of his lungs exactly in Ichigo's face, as his temper finally got the better of him. "I know what happened—I was there, wasn't I? Besides, you'll never accomplish your supposed mission of getting Orihime out of here."

"Why not? What do you mean, Grimmjow?" asked Ichigo, growing concerned. "Has something changed since the last time I saw you guys?"

"Yeah, you could say that," he laughed with a sarcastic smirk. "Ah... I love that you don't know this, even though, I, myself, hate knowing it, I love that _you_ don't know this!"

"Hey, come on! What is it, Grimmjow? Stop laughing and just tell me what it is!"

"I'm not done laughing yet," declared Grimmjow, bent over holding the hole in his stomach so as to prevent his sides from splitting open. "I need to finish laughing first!"

"You're a real jerk sometimes, you know that?" said Ichigo, but this only made Grimmjow cackle even harder. Suddenly, another voice began to echo through the same corridor which Ichigo emerged from, this time yelling, _Kurosaki!_ _Kurosaki!_

"Hey, Ishida!" shouted Ichigo at the darkened opening of the hallway. "I'm over here, in the big, spacious room-thingy—whatever it's called..."

"It's called a parlor, you idiot," said Grimmjow as his laughing attack began to calm.

"Fine," said Ichigo, folding his arms and lifting his chin. "I don't really care what it's called."

Uryuu emerged from the darkened hallway, panting and trying to catch his breath.

"Glad you could join us, Ishida," said Ichigo as a small grin appeared on his face. "You're just in time. Grimmjow, here, has some news about Inoue that he'd like to tell us."

"News?" asked Uryuu, poking his head towards Grimmjow. "What news? What's going on with her? Did you guys do something to her? I swear I'll kill all—"

"—Orihime is getting married...to Aizen," Grimmjow finally spat out, as he turned his back to them.

"_What?!"_ shouted Ichigo and Uryuu in unison, simply unable to comprehend. _"Married?!"_

"Yeah, that's all Aizen ever really wanted with her," said Grimmjow, "to marry her and always have access to her power."

"She can't get married! She's only sixteen!" exclaimed Ichigo as Uryuu thudded to the floor.

"Ishida?" Ichigo glanced at the ground behind him. "Great, now he's passed out! Wake up, you flippin' Quincy! I swear I'm not interested in this right now."

"As if her age matters to a guy like Aizen," interjected Grimmjow. "If anything, he probably likes her _more_ because she's so young."

"I knew that guy was a perv!" said Ichigo jumping to his feet, waving his fist, as Uryuu's eyes fluttered opened. He began to lumber to his feet.

"Inoue-san!" said Uryuu, with terror in his eyes. "We can't let this happen, Kurosaki! We have to stop this ridiculous wedding at all costs!"

"For once, I'm with you on this one, Ishida," said Ichigo. "Yeah, we're not gonna let something like this happen to Inoue. She's our classmate and our nakama. She deserves to live her life how she chooses, finish school, get a job, and someday marry whomever she wants to _when_ she's finally ready to do so."

"Well, you won't be getting any help from me, boys," said Grimmjow, as he started to walk away.

"But, why not?" asked Ichigo, starting towards him. "Or, do you not care about what happens to Inoue?"

"It's not that," he said, "It's just that I have my own plan to stop Aizen."

"All alone?" asked Ichigo.

"Of course. I have no one else, but me."

"Join us, Grimmjow," he said, "Facing Aizen alone is suicide, and you know that."

"You seem to think you can take him on all by yourself!" he shouted back at him.

"Yeah, but I'm stronger than you!" shouted Ichigo into his face. Grimmjow grunted and moved his feet away. He decided to leave the scene, heading towards the far hallway. Gin was still hovering in the dark near the entry, but, since he said nothing to Grimmjow, he paid him no mind as he passed him by.

"The two of us will have to take care of this," stated Ichigo to Uryuu, the determination mounting in his voice.

"—Don't worry, Kurosaki," said a sudden, unknown voice from the dark hallway that everyone kept emerging from after they announced themselves. "I'm here to help..."

Ichigo's eyes grew wide as he peered into the darkness with no idea as to who could be speaking to him.

"I would never let anything bad happen to Orihime-chan..." Then, emerging from the darkness, came a huge grin bearing enormous, square teeth, as the man swayed his lanky arms, wielding his carefree zanpakuto, followed by his two long, rubbery legs...

"_Hirako?"_

(...to be continued...)


	10. Bright Tear Waterfall

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 10: "Bright Tear Waterfall"**

"Are you finished trying on the first dress, Orihime-sama?" asked a careful Ulquiorra, as he inched his way out of the bathroom of her quarters. He was trying not to intrude upon her in case she was still indecent. No word nor sound came from the girl, but he still entered the main area of the room, seeing, across the way and from the reflection of her full-length mirror, that she had indeed been completely fitted into the dress by the two tailors attending to her on either side.

As she heard the shuffle of his footsteps moving towards her from behind, she only half turned her head back in his direction. The distressed look on her face and the bright waterfall of tears flowing down her only visible cheek were signs enough to Ulquiorra that her emotional state was in turmoil. He made no obvious reaction upon seeing her sad face, but when she started to turn all the way around to face him completely, wearing the elegant pearl-white, long flowing wedding gown that made her look like an angel, even _he_ couldn't help but gasp at the sight of her.

His gawking expression quickly turned into something more akin to concern when he realized something he felt was awry.

"You are indeed a vision of beauty, Orihime-sama, but do not allow Aizen-sama to see your face like that," he chided, as one of the tailors draped a long, sheer veil over her face. "You must learn to tuck away your emotions. Remember, feeling no emotions at all is better than being laden with negative ones."

She could only drop her gaze to the floor and gasp lightly to herself in defeat. The lecture simply didn't have the effect of allaying her fears and the turbulent thoughts rolling around in her mind and heart.

"There are quite a few more dresses where that came from, so if this particular dress is not to your liking, then Aizen-sama has provided you with many more to choose from. Perhaps an even prettier dress will cheer you up?"

"Ulquiorra," asked Orihime, softly, still standing at her dress-fitting station, "why are you treating me so much nicer now than you were before?"

"Because you are to be my queen," he stated after a short pause, closing his eyes and slightly bowing his head, "and, I must treat you with the respect due someone who is ascending to that position."

"Oh," she conceded, as her melancholy voice seemed to pull her chin towards the ground, again.

"You seem far too unhappy for someone as fortunate as you are," he observed, his hands placed calmly in his pockets.

"What do you mean?" asked Orihime, the confusion forcing her eyes to bulge open.

"You should feel honored that Aizen-sama has chosen you for such a calling," he explained. "He would never so casually take just any woman to wife. He will be giving you everything you've ever wanted in exchange for your loyalty. I would think that a young girl like yourself would feel she were living a dream to be so highly favored by a great man like Aizen-sama."

Again, she couldn't bring herself to respond to this lecture, but could only grimace at the idea that she should feel _fortunate and honored_ to be chosen by Aizen. This point of view certainly never entered her thoughts at anytime since Ulquiorra first apprehended her in the Senkaimon of Soul Society. Rather, she felt cursed, seeing as how so many of her nakama had come to rescue her before the captains of the Gotei Thirteen caught up, and suffered extensive injuries all on account of her being so highly championed by Aizen. Not to mention having to give up on all of her youthful dreams to finish school, teach, pig-out on exotic foods, and with any _real_ fortune, marry Ichigo one day. She felt very cursed, indeed.

"What about the hougyoku?" she suddenly asked, as she recalled its earlier supposed significance to her being there. "I thought it was really important to Aizen-san that I use my powers to force it to awaken. Why don't I ever hear anyone mention it anymore?"

"Aizen-sama has no true need of using you to awaken the hougyoku," he admitted, as she felt a surge of disappointment. "It will naturally awaken on its own in around a month's time. He wants your power to fit his glorious future, not simply to return a mere object to its awakened state."

The defeat spread across her face as she had to, once again, drop yet another dream along the roadside of this life-sucking path to "Aizen's glory."

"Besides," began Ulquiorra again, "he has no intention of allowing you to come into contact with it. He knows you will reject its existence if you have the chance."

She gasped loudly at this statement, which made his brow furrow a bit.

"I see...," observed Ulquiorra, "Your reaction to that accusation only confirms that Aizen-sama was correct in assuming your own objective with the orb."

"But, how could he have known that I was planning on rejecting it?" she asked sternly, tearing the wedding veil from off her head.

"Aizen-sama knows everything," he cooly stated, as if schooling her again.

It seemed no matter what avenues she chose to travel, she couldn't find a way out of her mental imprisonment. The only possibly _good_ thing that could come from all of this, she thought, so long as Aizen _actually_ succeeded in his atrocious and abominable plan, would be his promise to reunite her with her older brother, Sora. But, even so, she could see more clearly now, after some time and thought, that perhaps this gift would come with too many great sacrifices from so many people.

"Ulquiorra," she began again, "how is it that Aizen-san wants to marry me when we don't even know each other?"

They both stared silently at each other from across the room for a long moment.

"I don't love Aizen-san," she confessed, gently closing her eyes and bowing her head to the ground.

"Aizen-sama is certain you will grow to love him, in time, Orihime-sama." Shaking her head, she nearly chuckled at how easily she had been boxed in at every mental corner she attempted to turn by this all Aizen-informed man.

"You will be marrying Aizen-sama by the end of the week, so please finish up with choosing your dress," he ordered, turning towards the bathroom. "He's expecting you very soon in the library for your calligraphy lesson, so don't waste time."

As the morning turned into afternoon, as evidenced through her bedroom window, she glared up at the phony blue sky that resembled the real one she was familiar with viewing from her bedroom window back home. For the first time since entering Hueco Mundo, she felt that hole in the pit of her stomach widen with the desire to be able to reject all the events that ever led her to this awful situation. For once, she was truly worried for herself, despite still having her worries about everyone else who was running around, for her sake, all over Las Noches, and the dangers they could be facing...

(...to be continued...)


	11. Turn On The Bright Lights

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 11: "Turn on the Bright Lights"**

"_Hmm...hmm...hmm...,"_ hummed Gin to himself as he traipsed into one of Las Noches' many large parlors after snooping around the corridors. From the windows, the artificial sunlight lit up the room as its source indicated a late afternoon position in the blue "sky."

"Aizen-sama should be in the library with Orihime right now," he said to himself as he stepped near a closed door. Staring straight ahead and off into the dark distance of a large corridor right in front of him, he began to see a white figure moving in his direction. Some moments later, a large, tight grin expanded on his face as he began to recognize the figure through his eye-slits.

"Oh, this will be the crowning event of a truly exciting day for boring ol' Las Noches," he cackled, watching the white figure grow larger as it inched ever closer to him.

"You're really headed for trouble, now," said Gin to the white figure as it stepped into the light of the large, high-vaulted room. Such a statement only made Gin smile brighter, making him bear his teeth.

"What's it to you, anyway?" asked the figure, cooly, who had been identified as the arrancar, Grimmjow—light-blue hair, and all. As he came to a halt just in front of the corridor he emerged from, the weight of his zanpakuto clanked around at his left hip.

"Ha, ha—that thing really wants a fight, doesn't it?" remarked Gin, referring to Grimmjow's blue-hilted sword. Grimmjow glanced down to see it shifting around as he realized what Gin was looking at.

"Am I gonna have to remove you from here, Ichimaru?" he asked sincerely, the seriousness of his face speaking volumes louder than his words.

"Don't worry about me," said Gin, waving his hands around and about to burst into laughter, "I have no intention of getting in your way! I simply want to watch, is all..."

"Fine," replied Grimmjow, curtly. He waltzed casually over to the closed door of the library, his hips swaying in slow motion as his arms freely swung by his sides. It was his usual sexy swagger, but more focused as he headed for the door.

"Aizen! I know you're in there!" shouted Grimmjow at the closed door, wrapping his fist loudly against it. _"Aizen!"_

Moments later, the door cracked open to reveal Aizen himself standing at the doorway with Orihime a few feet behind him. She was seated at a large table in the center of the small, box-shaped room whose walls were covered from floor to ceiling with row after row of old hard-covered books. Laying on the top of the table in front of her was a piece of parchment marked with some black paint strokes, as her hand hovered over it. Between her delicate fingers she held a wooden paint brush, the tip stained in pitch-black ink.

"Hmm? What's this?" began a congenial Aizen, as he strolled out of the room a few paces into the larger outside parlor.

"Grimmjow!" shouted Orihime once she saw who had been banging on the door. She immediately jumped out of her chair to her feet, dawning a worried look on her face. Her jolt caused her to inadvertantly paint her own white uniform with the black ink soaked into the hairs of the brush she held in her hand.

"It seems we have a visitor, my love," said Aizen with a grin, glancing back at her. Grimmjow peered into the room at Orihime, but he tried not to allow himself to get too distracted by her presence.

"I'm sorry, Grimmjow," began Aizen, "But, I'm afraid I am in the middle of a calligraphy lesson with Orihime right now, so whatever it is you want, it'll have to wait until afterwards."

"You son-of-a—" began Grimmjow, until, suddenly, someone he couldn't recognize at first came to intercept his lunge at Aizen.

"Tousen!" gasped Grimmjow, incredulous upon realizing who the someone was standing in-between himself and Aizen. The blind man peered at Grimmjow with his snare, face-to-face, leaving little breathing room between the two of them.

"Get outta my way, Tousen!" shouted Grimmjow, poking his face even closer towards him.

"If you've come to attack Aizen-sama, then you will have to go through me, first, Grimmjow," stated Tousen, rearing back a little and drawing his zanpakuto from his side. Grimmjow glared at the tip of the man's completely unsheathed sword as the fake sunlight glistened off the bright metal blade. Consequently, he grabbed the hilt of his own sword, pulling it only a third of the way out of its sheath.

"_Grind your teeth, Pantera!"_ bellowed Grimmjow. Suddenly, he was engulfed in a bright blue light just around his own person. Everyone's clothes began to whip around furiously in the wind created by the commotion. Orihime walked up to the doorway from inside the library, just behind Aizen, her eyes gaping open at the tumultuous scene.

"Please, my darling," said Aizen, turning only his head to the side towards her, "go back inside the library and shut the door tightly. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, and you will be safe behind these sturdy walls."

"But, Aizen-sensei—" she started to say as the urgency of her voice tried to escape her mouth.

"Do it now, please," he reiterated, in a serious tone, before she could voice her opposition. She silently backed away and began to slowly close shut the large, heavy door behind him. Leaning her back up against it, she sunk to the floor, sighing on the way down. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. Her eyes finally caught a glimpse of the black ink brush stroke she painted on the front of her uniform. She began to rub it, smearing the ink around in her attempt to erase it's existence.

"_I...I don't want...this..."_

(...to be continued...)


	12. Turn on the Bright Lights, II

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 12: "Turn on the Bright Lights, II"**

Smoke and vapor filled the air of the large room as the figure of a transformed Grimmjow stood obscured by it in the center, snarling lowly under his breath. His blue eyes lit up like light bulbs, so brightly, they were the only part of his body easily visible through the dense fog. They bore into the clear, yellow eyes of Aizen, standing only yards in front of him, who stared him down with equal intensity, and a snarky grin, to boot.

Tousen moved into the sight path between them to block Grimmjow's view of his lord and master.

"Have you already forgotten that I told you if you plan to attack Aizen-sama, you must go through me first?" asked Tousen to the fierce and beastly-looking Grimmjow. His blue hair lengthened down to the back of his thighs and his mask moved from the right side of his face, to the top of his forehead, taking on the shape of a flat crown.

"_I said get outta my way, Tousen!"_

His bright cat-eyes attempted to pierce those of the interceptor, but it was of no avail. The large panther-man breathed in deeply, growling on the inhale, his long blue hair slipping down his back. He let out such an excruciatingly loud roar, both Tousen and Gin were instantly shaken to their knees. Tousen covered his ears with his hands, his face wincing from the searing jab of the sonic boom. Aizen only cackled at Grimmjow under his breath.

"You know that my ears are more sensitive than most people's because of my lack of sight," said Tousen, struggling to get to his feet as he stood on his knees. The sonic roar left him wobbly as it affected his sense of balance, making his struggle to his feet even more difficult.

Grimmjow flared his razor-sharp teeth, charging at the temporarily helpless man on the ground. He sank his fangs deep into Tousen's dark, fleshy neck, causing him to wail loudly in pain. Just as a predator attacks his prey, Grimmjow lifted Tousen's entire body a few feet off the ground, and, without even using a single one of his arms to hold him up, he shook Tousen back-and-forth several times in mid-air holding him _only_ in his jaw.

A split second later, he whipped his head to his left side, sending a hurling Tousen, his goggles flying off his face, crashing into the nearby western wall. Heaving and panting heavily, Grimmjow's teeth and satisfied chin dripped the fresh blood onto the ground where he stood.

"You...are truly...a beast, Grimmjow," muttered Tousen, struggling to speak and breathe as he lay on the ground up against the wall, a gaping hole torn open and bleeding at the side of his neck.

"You don't seem so tough now that I'm in my true form," taunted Grimmjow. _"Consider that payback for cutting off my arm!"_

"You are truly loathsome," sneered Tousen.

"_Shut-up!"_ screamed Grimmjow at the ragged, desperate man.

"Very impressive, Grimmjow," observed Aizen as he peered over at the cat-man. "You can still do that move even in your Arrancar form, just as you could when you were a full hollow. That is remarkable."

Grimmjow turned his attention to Aizen, giving him that at-long-last glare. Happy to finally have full access to Aizen with no more interruptions, he straightened out his back as he balanced himself on his two black, hind paws.

"Now, as for you, Aizen," began Grimmjow, in a rather matter-of-fact tone, "for you, I have something very special."

"Is that so?" said Aizen, his eyes widening with curiosity.

"You already know my strongest power is Desgarron. And, that certainly isn't enough to make even a dent in _your_ fender."

"Yes, that's correct," said Aizen, continuing to grow more intrigued.

"So, you must be wondering why I think I can stand here before you as if I could actually beat you."

"The thought had crossed my mind," admitted Aizen, patiently.

"The only reason I can do that is because of this," said Grimmjow, pulling out from some mysterious place on his person, a glass vile of blood. Gin's brow lifted at the sight of this interesting new development as he stood over by the eastern wall of the room.

"A vile of blood, eh, Grimmjow?" asked a heartily impressed Aizen.

"Whatcha got in the tube?" interjected Gin, as his grin beamed brighter than the outside sinking sun.

"This is not just any vile of blood," began Grimmjow. "This is _your_ blood, Aizen."

Even Tousen managed to gasp at this confession, along with Gin. Aizen stood casually, as usual, despite the shocking revelation.

"I had to kill the head-nurse in sick bay just to get my hands on this thing, but now that I have it, even _you_ won't be able to counter me. I know that if I mix my blood with my own cero, I have the ability to use the Espada-exclusive Gran-Rey Cero attack. That attack is even stronger while I'm in my released form. But, still, I know it just isn't enough. As I conjured-up my plan for defeating you, I thought, _'how would Aizen fare against a Gran-Rey Cero made from his own blood?'_ Surely, it would be the only way to inflict any real damage, if not kill you outright!"

Grimmjow yanked out the cork from the mouth of the vile, spilling its bloody contents onto the palm of his right hand, the overflow dripping onto the floor. His grin widened to cover nearly the entire lower-half of his face as his eyes bugged out of his head with glee. He let out a wicked hoot from his vocal cords as he held out his right palm, aiming it directly at Aizen standing in front of the northern wall.

"I think it's time I got out of the way," said Gin, instantly flash-stepping to the southern wall behind Grimmjow.

In the fraction of a second, a collosal red beam emerged from Grimmjow's right palm, shrieking as it flashed maniacally out in all directions in front of him. The entire room took on a red hue, its radiant heat nearly melting everything in its path. But, in the next fraction of a second, Aizen stuck out his left hand, deflecting the blast away off into the eastern wall, leaving himself completely untouched and unscathed. The eastern wall, however, did not fare quite so well, as it revealed a large crack running horizontally across it once the cero blast dissipated.

Grimmjow's jaw dropped to the ground as his eyes gaped open at Aizen.

"_How?...How could you have possibly deflected my cero?!"_ he uttered, incredulous to the bone. "And using only one hand? It's not possible..._You should be dead!"_

"How, you ask?" reverberated Aizen, as calmly and cooly as ever. "It's very simple. The blood in that vile was _not_ mine."

Grimmjow gasped as if he were being choked to death, his eyes fully bulging out of his head as he gaped at Aizen.

"You were right to believe that a Gran-Rey Cero made with my own blood would kill me. Such a scheme is brilliant, but I never leave my DNA lying around so carelessly. Therefore, it would be impossible for anybody to create one. I have my throne thoroughly wiped down every night so Szayel Aporro can't use even a stray hair of mine to make any clones of me. That vile in your hand was actually filled with Luppi's blood. After you had disposed of him, I had the head-nurse mislabel it with my name so as to fool people like yourself who might get some funny ideas in their heads. So, you see, Grimmjow, your Gran-Rey Cero was no more powerful than one created by the number Six Espada."

"_No!" _bellowed Grimmjow at this revelation. He stood, hunched over, frozen like a deer-in-the-headlights.

"Let me ask you, Grimmjow," said Aizen, changing the tone of his voice slightly, "why are you suddenly trying to destroy me?"

"Why?" repeated Grimmjow, gulping. He steadied and fixed his narrowing eyes on Aizen as he readied to reveal his answer. "Because I won't let you marry Orihime!"

More gasping emanated from the spectators.

"You object to my marriage to Orihime?" asked Aizen as he allowed the truth to soak in.

"You have gone too far, this time, Aizen! I had no choice but to make a stand against you."

"I see," said Aizen, "and why is preventing my marriage to Orihime so important to you, Grimmjow?"

"—_Because I love her!"_

Orihime gasped from the other side of the library door, as she sat leaning up against it on the floor. She was unable to hear clearly most of what everyone had said ever since she was forced to shut the door behind Aizen. But, after calming and quieting herself down, she managed to hear that confession from Grimmjow as he shouted it out to the ceiling.

"I see," said Aizen again, closing his eyes and lowering his gaze down to the ground.

"I don't care what happens to me," continued Grimmjow along with his gasping and panting, "but I won't let you have her!"

"It really is a shame that you went and killed my head-nurse," began Aizen on what seemed to be a change of the subject. "She was a very talented healer. But, just the same, I have Orihime-chan to do the major healing around here from now on, and she's much more gifted than that unfortunate head-nurse ever was."

Aizen held out his right hand, pointing it towards Grimmjow as he gasped and panted even deeper just to stay up on his hind feet. But, the sight of Aizen's hand extending out at him suddenly caused his breathing to quit, his mouth to close, and his eyes to widen all at once.

"It is also unfortunate that I must do this now...You are an amazing creature, Grimmjow. That's the reason I pursued you so relentlessly out in the Hueco Mundo desert. I knew how invaluable you would be to my army and my cause. Well, it really is a pity that we cannot go any further forward together towards my great destiny and share in it, as I had planned..._Way of Destruction, Number Ninety-Five: White Lights, Eternal Prison..." _

(...to be continued...)


	13. Night and Day

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 13: "Night and Day"**

_"Way of Destruction, Number Nighty-Five: White Lights, Eternal Prison..."_

Grimmjow's bright blue eyes popped out of his head upon hearing the declarative words so non-chalantly roll off Aizen's tongue. Aizen smirked at the helpless beast-man, pointing the fingers of his right hand directly at him.

"Hmm...Aizen-sama's counter-attacking," observed Gin, standing astutely behind Grimmjow at the southern wall of the high-vaulted room. "I'll have to move back over to where I was standing..."

A second later, Gin flash-stepped back over to the northern wall near Aizen, attempting to remain an observer instead of an unfortunate casualty.

Suddenly, a large cage-like structure made out of several luminescent white light rods began to descend from above Grimmjow's head until they had him completely surrounded, trapping him to the ground where he stood. He began to look around frantically at all the stacked horizontal bars like a confused animal suddenly finding itself the victim of a booby-trap it could not comprehend. He shuttered to notice upon wildly searching around his newly enclosed space, that the tips of the light rods were sharpened like lances—and they were pointing directly at him. Panting and gasping, he shot a glance over at Aizen, waiting for his next move.

"Ninties-level kidou have always been my favorites," said Aizen to his terrified prisoner, "even if I still haven't quite learned to control them completely yet. I suppose that's why I like them so much...because they've always presented a challenge to me..."

"I'm still impressed," observed Gin to himself from his position near the northern wall.

"One thing you should have known better not to do, Grimmjow," continued Aizen, "was to try to take the sun for your own. You see, you are the night and Orihime is the day. The day always vanquishes the night when the sun dawns on the horizon. It is an impossible relationship to create, for the darkness of night can never co-exist with the full light of day."

"I don't exactly see things that way," shot back Grimmjow.

"Oh? You are a hollow born from this world of total darkness, are you not?" asked Aizen. Grimmjow remained silent as the grave, only narrowing his eyes in anger at Aizen as he waxed philosophical.

"I have captured the sun and made her mine. Her light now shines _only_ in my sky," said Aizen as he pointed out through the small window near the ceiling of the western wall. The artificial sky began to turn golden with the sun's setting to dusk on the horizon. "Her powers are now my powers and that makes _me_ the sun, the greatest ruler in all the heavens."

Suddenly, a mild creaking sound emanated from the library behind Aizen. Orihime slowly and carefully cracked open the door, poking her nose and eyes through the opening to see what had progressed thus far. She hadn't heard anything for a few minutes from inside the sealed-up room, and so grew increasingly uneasy to the point where she couldn't resist seeing for herself what was happening outside the room.

"Ahh...You finally opened the door," stated Aizen courteously to Orihime. She was both surprised and afraid that he noticed her so easily. "I was wondering when you were going to sneak a peek."

Orihime couldn't help but gasp slightly at his words. She pulled a pained grimace on her face, peering at the ground outside the room, her expression revealing her concern for having been caught disobeying his orders.

"Come out here, Orihime-chan, my sweet," said Aizen in an affectionate tone, as if calling over to a small pet. She promptly obeyed, pushing the door all the way open and stepping out into the larger room.

"...I want you to watch me as I_ destroy the night..."_

A very loud gasp escaped Orihime's lips as she shot a quick glance over at Grimmjow, her countenance clothed entirely with deep dread. Her ability to breathe also vanished as she stiffened up from head-to-toe.

"Grimmjow!" she shouted, taking a small step in his direction.

Aizen moved his eyes from her figure to Grimmjow trapped in the light prison, as he continued to point his right hand at him.

"_Ori...hime..."_ said Grimmjow softly, the words gently flowing from his lips as he savored the sight of her from across the room.

Aizen gestured with his fingers slightly and, in a split second, all the sharpened bars of the cage thrust inward simultaneously, impaling Grimmjow on every square-inch of his body as he shrieked at the top of his lungs. In only the blink of an eye, he was completely pulverized into a mesh of flesh, blood, and bone—reduced to nothing more than a lifeless pile of pulp upon the ground.

Orihime winced as the back of her hand flew up to her face, attempting to shield her eyes from the ghastly scene.

"_No!"_ she cried as she gazed upon Grimmjow's grizzly remains. Even if she had attempted to run to him, she had already lost the power to move. It took everything she had just to stand on her feet as her body rocked and swayed to-and-fro. Light-headed, she grabbed her stomach as she noticed a queasy sensation developing from deep inside it. Before she could totally lose her balance, Aizen quickly grabbed her shoulders and steadied her stance. He noticed a few tiny beads of perspiration glistening upon her forehead and her sheet-white face.

"There, there, Orihime-chan," he reassured, "I've got you. Take some deep breaths for me now, won't you?"

She violently sucked the air in through her nostrils, filling up her deflated lungs before she could collapse, coughing and gagging for her life. A few moments later she regained most of her composure and the color in her cheeks, as Aizen stood facing her, patiently clasping her shoulders with his hands.

"That's better," said Aizen, turning her around to face the library entrance. "We haven't finished our calligraphy lesson yet."

Once Orihime glanced up, she immediately tore away from Aizen's grasp and darted over to the mush that lay across the room as the light prison slowly dissipated away. She stopped when she came upon a coin-sized fragment of Grimmjow's hollow mask and bent over to pick it up.

"I don't want you restoring him over there," asserted Aizen. Clutching the mask fragment in her hands, she scuffed her feet back over to Aizen, the melancholy overwhelming her gait.

"I only want to keep this as a memento," she lightly voiced to him, staring down at the ground.

"Very well, then," said Aizen, nodding slightly in approval. "The clean-up crew will be coming through here in a couple of hours to remove all of what's left of him."

"Gin," he said to the beaming, silver-haired man, "take Kaname to the infirmary...I also have something else for you to do, but I'll tell you about it later."

"No problem, Aizen-sama," said Gin as he began to waltz over to the silent Tousen, still laying and bleeding on the ground up against the western wall. "I must say, that was the most fun I've had in months."

Aizen placed his hands again on Orihime's shoulders, gently guiding her by his side towards the library entrance. Once they stepped into the room, Aizen stopped and peered down to penetrate into her eyes.

"You may be very sad now, Orihime-chan, but I am certain," he began to say, and then, suddenly, he bent down and smoothly whispered directly into her left ear, _"I will make you forget all about him..."_

Staring straight ahead, she immediately froze as her eyes widened into two spheres. She could feel him brushing the tip of his nose over her ear. He softly exhaled into the opening, startling and electrifying her entire body all at once. He, then, pulled her hair away from her shoulder and face to behind her back, and with his index finger, he placidly tugged down the top of her high-necked collar to expose the side of her ivory neck. Then, he buried his two supple lips into her flesh just beneath her chin.

She held the fragment of Grimmjow's mask in her hands over her heart, and now nearly dropped it as her body quivered and shook. Before the fragment could slip from her fingers, she deftly tightened her grasp on it, holding it more firmly over her heart, as her body became rigid and her face, taut. Aizen pulled his lips off of her neck and stood erect. He reached his hand over to the open door near him and pushed it shut, he and she alone, enclosed in the library once again...

(...to be continued...)

**NOTE:** The kidou spell, "White Lights, Eternal Prison" is my own (the author's) made-up spell. It doesn't appear in the Bleach manga or omake anywhere, just in case you were wondering.


	14. No Boundaries

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 14: "No Boundaries"**

Orihime wept all alone in her barren, white-walled room throughout the night and into the beginning of the next day. As she lay raggedly in her bed, the image of Grimmjow's formless remains flashed in her mind over and over again, forcing her to grab her head in an effort to make them stop. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered up her ears with her hands as she laid her head on her pillow, trying to escape the inexplicable trauma Aizen had forced her to witness.

"_He didn't even look human anymore..."_ she repeated to herself several different times as she drifted into sleep and startled herself awake again, in a sort of rhythmic pattern. Such an event was clearly more than any young, innocent school girl could digest.

Once awake the next morning, she leaned over to the night stand by her bedside, picking up her favorite old, framed photograph of Sora placed there to watch over her as she slept. It was the only keepsake she was allowed to bring with her from home, and it was the only earthly possession she had discovered, as a result of Aizen's restrictions, that she truly cared about.

"_Onii-chan..."_ she said softly to the young man's image. Sora's gaze at her was sweet and beaming as it reflected the light from the rising sun outside her barred window. She felt, all at once, happiness and sadness, clarity and confusion, as the tears fell from her raw cheeks onto Sora's angelic face.

That afternoon, after having eaten breakfast and being tended to briefly by Ulquiorra, she sat silently alone on her main-area couch, slumped over by the weight of the gloom and melancholy that drew her body towards the ground.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door and slowly it began to swing open...

"Orihime-chan!" said a beaming Gin, as he entered through the doorway behind his attendant, his silver hair shimmering in the sunlit room. "I came to visit with you for a little while, today."

"Ichimaru-san?" asked Orihime quietly, immediately sitting up straight and scrunching her eyebrows together at him. As his grin widened, her frown broadened likewise.

"You must be wondering what I'm doing here," he said as he approached her very lightly and carefree, shoving his face into hers. "Aizen-sama has requested of me to have a little 'chat' with you."

Orihime's expression went from irritated to bewildered. She could see why Gin might have an interest in coming to her room on his own, if only just to amuse himself with teasing her, but she couldn't wrap her brain around why Aizen would deliberately send _him_ to speak with her. She honestly couldn't remember ever having had a conversation with him before this moment.

"You look rather down-in-dumps," he observed. "To be honest, Orihime-chan, you _have_ looked prettier before."

"If you're going to tease me, then please leave right now," she said, her staunch face staring at the bare wall on the other side of the room.

"Oh, no, that's not really why I'm here. You see, my dear," he said, as he sat down opposite her on the far end of the large, white couch, "I came to talk with you about..._sex..."_

Orihime suddenly gasped as the air from her lungs seemed to get sucked out. Her brown eyes widened as far as they could at the ever-grinning and squinting man staring back at her.

"I _refuse_ to speak with you about that!" she shouted, screwing up her angry face at him. "Why would I _ever_ talk with _you_ about that?!"

"Don't worry, Orihime-chan," he chuckled, "It's not like I'm not going to _do _anything to you, or _show_ you anything. I've been expressly forbidden from doing things like that! Aizen-sama is very curious and wants to know what you know about it. It's his way of taking inventory on you, since you two are going to be married _very soon_."

This declaration only made Orihime more uncomfortable, if anything but for the fact that he had to emphasize her inevitable marriage to Aizen. She began scooching herself as far over to the other end of the couch, away from him, as she possibly could.

"Calm down, Orihime-chan!" he bellowed, gesturing his hands and placing them firmly on his chest, "I'm Uncle Gin! You can talk to me about anything! I'm practically your older brother now, anyway, seeing as how Aizen-sama is like an older brother to me. You know, he raised me from the time I was a very young lad... Now that we're on the subject, how much did your _real_ older brother tell you about sex before he died? You were quite young at the time, weren't you?"

"Um..." she began, very hesitantly and coyly while rubbing the tip of her nose and blushing slightly, "nothing...really. I learned some things about it from Tatsuki-chan's mother and from classes at school."

"At school?!" shouted Gin, completely caught off-guard and still cackling. "You mean it actually gets discussed in the classroom? I have to admit, I'm really having fun with where this conversation is going..."

"All the same," he continued as she glared at him cross-eyed, "I have to report to Aizen-sama about your experience level. Now that he knows about your former _secret_ relationship with Grimmjow, the obvious question must be asked..."

Orihime felt all her muscles tighten as she placed her cupped hands upon her lap, peering down at them. Gin leaned back up against the couch cushion, slouching as he dangled his arm over the armrest. He glanced over at her with a loose smirk and a quick wink.

"Well...," he began again, very nonchalantly, "did you or did you not ever have sex with Grimmjow?"

"_No! I never did that!" _she shot back, her face shocked and troubled, tears nearly welling up in her eyes.

"Alright, I believe you," he said calmly, only moving his grinning lips and no other part of his body. "It does, however, seem rather _implausible,_ given that we're talking about Grimmjow, of all people... But, Aizen-sama told me to believe your answers, and I think you're an honest girl, anyway..."

Orihime folded her arms over her chest and stomach, feeling a chill quivering up her spine. She began to quake for her fraying nerves. Gin enjoyed every minute of causing her so much discomfort, and as she progressively grew ill at ease, he likewise grew progressively happy and perfectly relaxed in a sort of excited way.

"Are you still a virgin?" he asked, all of a sudden, slumping even deeper into the billowy cushions with his legs spread wide apart. In what felt like slow motion, Orihime turned to face him, completely caught off guard by the question. She was already made to feel so uncomfortable, but now she felt downright _violated_.

"How can you ask me such a thing?" she declared, standing to her feet from the couch. "Of course I'm a virgin. I know practically nothing of men. I haven't even lived..._my life..."_

She began to trail off and sob mildly into the sleeves covering her wrists, the sound muffled by the thick fabric.

"Good girl!" said Gin, also standing from the couch now. "Aizen-sama will be very pleased to know that."

He stepped a few paces in her direction, stopping just short of a few feet from where she stood in the room. She continued to face the bare wall, allowing the sleeves of her uniform to sop up the painful tears dripping from her eyes.

"Come now, my dear Orihime-chan," he said as he widened his wing-span, "give Uncle Gin a hug."

She glanced over at him slightly with only one eye to assess his sincerity. She wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort her because she was upset, or just... The idea of receiving an embrace from Ichimaru Gin didn't exactly give her a warm and peaceful feeling.

"Come on, now, Orihime, give me a hug. You can trust me. Come over here—walk to me. Give your new big brother a great big hug..."

As Gin held out his arms to her, all of his uniform fabric made it look as though white wings were hanging from them, drooping, as if what was left of his angelic properties had shriveled up and died long ago, and the sickly pallor of his being was all that remained. He sniggered under his breath as he flashed his white teeth at her, his narrow eyes never opening too wide so as to make his true face difficult to read.

Despite her own huge reservations about him, she found that her feet began to shuffle slowly towards him, her tears still falling from the wellsprings that were her eyes. It was as if she no longer had any control over her own body's movements—she continued to inch ever closer towards the gap in his arms. She tried desperately to wipe away the stream of tears as fast as she could for it seemed _they_ were pulling her in his direction. But, no matter what she tried, she could not stop their flow.

Before she knew it, she had entered his space, a darkened realm of shadows and daunting mystery. He drew his winged embrace around her back, pulling her into his long, lanky frame. He placed her head on his chest with his hand, pressing her diminutive nose up against his bare, pale flesh where his cleavage was uncovered by his clothing. She felt as though she were engulfed by a dank haze of gray, lumbering around, waiting for a victim to attach itself to.

"_Mmm..."_ he deeply hummed into the top of her head as he began to stroke her hair, "your hair feels so soft... and it smells _really, really good..."_

Orihime immediately pushed him away, wrenching herself out of his grasp with all the force she could muster. Standing back where she was before, she panted and gasped to catch her breath as she scowled at him. His grin widened upon seeing her wild, horrified, angered expression.

"Oh, well," he said casually, turning his back to her as he headed to the door, "maybe you're not really the 'affectionate type.'"

He slowly sauntered away, snickering under his breath, as his awaiting attendant opened the door. Orihime's mouth twitched at him.

"Don't worry," he continued to her, "I'm finished speaking with you now. You can go back to your sulking... _Have a nice day..."_

He quickly spun around and waved a rather lively arm at her, pearly teeth and all, then disappeared through the doorway, followed by the attendant.

"Sometimes, I _really_ enjoy my job..." he mused to himself, and possibly to his attendant, just outside the door as he stepped out into the large hallway. He menaced a wide grin to congratulate himself as he meandered away towards the nearest corridor exit...

(...to be continued...)


	15. No Glad Music Sounds

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 15: "No Glad Music Sounds"**

"I'll be fine now—that's enough," said Tousen, pushing away the hand of the Nurse's Aid in the Las Noches infirmary. "I've been here for two days now. It's time I head back to my own domain."

"Very well, Lieutenant," said the Aid, bowing courteously at him as he sat on a white gurney. She turned and walked over to the main door, opening it for him as slipped on and zipped up his white, sleeveless vest over his neck bandages. As he strode over to the open door, the Aid halted him, holding out a small bottle in her hand.

"Pain killers for you, sir," she said as if to remind him before he left.

"No, I have no need to kill what I do not feel," he retorted abruptly and coldly, staring straight ahead. He resumed his stride and continued to walk alone down the long, dark corridors and high-vaulted area rooms of the large desert sanctuary. His zanpakuto clanked mildly by his side as he had been carrying it when admitted into the infirmary. It was the only sound he heard for several minutes, other than his own light footsteps, during his walk back home.

After exiting one long, dark corridor and entering an empty high-vaulted room lit by the artificial sun, he headed for the corridor on the opposite side of the room. He placed one foot in front of the other and could hear the corresponding sounds of his own foot steps; but, suddenly, he heard a set of footsteps coming from the corridor he was heading towards. He stopped dead in his tracks, reflexively reaching for the hilt of his sword.

"Who goes there?" he asked loudly. "Why do you hide your reiatsu, or could it be that you do not possess any?"

"Oh, I possess plenty," came the retort, as the stranger stepped out from the dark corridor and into the lighted room, unleashing his reiatsu all at once. He wore a long, white, sleeveless haori over a black sleeveless kimono tucked neatly into a black hakama.

"That reiatsu! It is you..._Lieutenant Hisagi..."_ said a surprised, but snarling Tousen.

"Very good, former-Captain Tousen," retorted the spiky, black-haired man. "But, you have one thing wrong. I will inform you, since you cannot realize this on your own, but, from now on, you will have to address me as 'Captain Hisagi.'"

"Captain?" asked a befuddled Tousen, nearly cackling under his breath. "I see. So, they have gone and made you the captain of my old squad, eh?"

"Squad Nine is mine now—that is right," said the young captain. He strode a few steps closer to his former captain with a stoic, serious expression on his face.

"You sound earnestly like a man who wishes to exact revenge upon me," began Tousen as he tuned into his former lieutenant's spiritual aura, "But, despite your apparent determination— underneath all that—I can sense much fear in you."

"Fear is nothing compared to what I am sensing from you," shot back Hisagi with a deadly eye. "In you, there is nothing left of humanity. You are merely a being more akin to the demons you choose to surround yourself with. Such a state of being does not allow for a more evolved emotion like fear to even surface."

"I am no Hollow, if that is what you are suggesting. Rather, I am a more evolved being who has no use nor place for frail human emotions. Aizen-sama taught me the ways to reach new heights as a shinigami."

"Is your precious Aizen-sama worth sacrificing everything and everyone that ever mattered to you, _Tousen?!"_ shouted a heated Hisagi, as his anger began to fume.

"Oh, so that's it? You are feeling abandoned by your former captain, aren't you, Shuuhei?"

"Don't belittle me like that!" Hisagi shouted again, gritting his teeth. "Don't make this encounter into anything more than what it really is, and it is about _my_ responsibility as the new captain of Squad Nine to seek retribution from you for your cowardly, defiant acts. A captain who abandons his own squad is nothing but a traitor and a good-for-nothing who deserves no less than a painful, humiliating death."

"Do I?" asked Tousen, calmly, with a glint of arrogance emanating from his white teeth. He slowly began to draw his zanpakuto from its sheath, flashing the shiny blade in the sunlight he was unable to see.

"It is not like you to shout in anger like this, Shuuhei. Surely, you are allowing your emotions to overwhelm you."

"You would be wise to worry about your own well-being rather than to fret upon the feelings of your former lieutenant—unless by doing so, you are admitting to caring about me still?"

"You are very hung-up about that, aren't you?" observed Tousen. "But, you are wrong. How could I abandon what I love? I am not a man who would ever do something so callous. I was able to walk away from you so casually because I never cared for you in the first place."

Hisagi's face dropped for a split second upon hearing these words as they effortlessly tore through his own fragile heart. In the next second, he had the tip of his blade only a half-inch away from Tousen's throat, as Tousen's own blade blocked it from making complete contact.

"How dare you!" exclaimed Hisagi, as the fervor of anger welled-up in his throat. "How dare you say something like that to me. Only a scoundrel would be capable of admitting that."

Hisagi leaped backwards away from Tousen's blade as his sandals skidded across the floor. Bearing down, he dug his heels into the ground as he narrowed his eyes at his old friend.

"Call me whatever you like," retorted Tousen, cooly. "It doesn't change anything."

"Then, prepare yourself for a battle, Tousen, because I will not leave here until you are dead."

Hisagi shouted out the name of his zanpakuto as he held it out at his right side, but before he could even spout out the command release, he was suddenly and entirely encompassed by a great darkness that robbed him of every sense he possessed. All at once, he could see nothing, hear nothing, smell nothing, but felt only his weakened heart beating more and more rapidly within his chest.

"Your bankai?" asked a bewildered Hisagi, out loud, as he breathed heavily, looking feverishly around for any thing to fix his sight upon. He had never actually been trapped inside of Tousen's bankai, but he knew full well what its battle tactics included. "Are you _that_ much of a coward, Tousen, that you would release your bankai on me before I even call out the first command to my zanpakuto?"

Suddenly, Hisagi felt a long tear open up in his left arm as his own life-blood began to forcefully spew out in every direction. He reflexively grabbed his wound and dropped to one knee, hanging down his head from the pain and his feelings of stupefaction, as he gasped to keep air in his lungs.

"_You traitorous scum!"_ he shouted from the ground. "I know you can hear me, even though I can't even hear myself!"

Then, came the moment that Hisagi could sense only for a short breath before it arrived—the tip of Tousen's blade cutting through the thick black space towards the flesh of his bare neck...

(...to be continued...)


	16. He Jests At Scars

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 16: "He Jests At Scars"**

_Clank! __Clack! __Clank! _went the air right next to Hisagi's left ear. He had suddenly become able to hear again. The loud sounds frightened him enough to where he jolted his whole body forward, turning a somersault before getting back to a crouching position on his feet, and facing the area he had just rolled away from. The room was no longer pitch black, but was beginning to lighten to a dark gray. He could now barely see from the light made from the sparks of two swords clashing together, the origin of the sound.

"Captain Komamura!" shouted Hisagi, panting, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated to allow in as much light as possible. With what little light there was he was barely able to see the wolf-head of his friend, Komamura Sajin, sword-fighting with Tousen.

"Shuuhei," said Komamura, while still fiercely hacking-and-slashing, "I apologize for intervening in your fight with Tousen. But, I decided I am not willing to fight him to avenge your death. I came here with you because I have my own prior score to settle with him."

"So, you've come, Komamura," said Tousen, dryly. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you again."

"Unlike you, I am not interested in the element of surprise," he shot back, "I am not a wielder of deception such as yourself. I came here to defeat you with sheer strength alone..."

"But, Captain Komamura, how were you able to break through his bankai?" asked a bewildered, adrenaline-fueled Hisagi.

"You should not have shown me your bankai's weakness so many years ago, Tousen," said the gigantic anthropomorph to Tousen, dwarfed in size by comparison.

"So, you remember _that_ after all this time?" retorted Tousen, a bit surprised.

"Such a weakness only requires a regular sword to essentially pop it in the perfect spot, like a balloon," said Komamura to Hisagi, as the latter continued to crouch down on the ground and gaze up in wonderment. The darkness from Tousen's bankai had nearly dissipated as the light in the room continually returned to its original level.

"Such a weakness cannot possibly be capitalized upon by an opponent caught within my released bankai," retorted Tousen. "To have told you of this weakness was not folly on my part, for I reasoned that if one day I was to face off with you, you'd be trapped within it and, thus, rendered completely helpless."

"I see..." said Komamura, now standing a few feet away from Tousen as they both held out their zanpakuto at each other, "you did not anticipate the possibility that during this fight, I might be on the _outside_ of your bankai. Clearly, you did not think of everything."

"I do my best, but Aizen-sama is the great strategist," stated Tousen, as the two were still otherwise motionless.

"I won't even ask how long you two have been deceiving all of us," said Komamura, his sharp fangs flaring like an irritated carnivore. "As disgusted as I am with these actions of yours, I have come to accept them for what they are. This is what has made it possible for me to come here with the single purpose of terminating your life."

"You've come to accept my actions?" asked Tousen, mockingly, yet not smiling. "Hmm...that is hard to believe. I know you are not the type to take such things so lightly, Komamura."

"I have in no way indicated that I take your betrayal lightly," he spat back, his yellow eyes beginning to flare. "Indeed, you have caused me much pain and sorrow with which I had prior little acquaintance. You were _my_ best friend, Tousen. I thought I knew you better than anyone else. It has been taking me a long time to overcome the harm you did me, but I stand before you today as one who is finally ready to make you reap the consequences of your actions without my emotions controlling me."

Tousen furrowed his brow to hear this as he tightened his grip on his sword with his two hands. Then, without any further ado, he leapt into the air directly above, squaring his shoulders.

"Since my bankai is now temporarily out-of-commission, I will attack with my shikai," he shouted. "Break his limbs, _Suzumushi Benihikou!"_

Suddenly a barrage of metal blades flew forcefully out of Tousen's single-bladed zanpakuto, headed in the direction of Komamura as he stood still on the ground, watching the blades descend upon him. He was showered all over by the numerous blades, each one driven into various parts of his body, his shoulders, back, chest and arms. Despite this vicious attack and the blood spilling from each wound onto the floor, he stood his ground, peering into Tousen's countenance with solid determination as he tore out each blade, one by one, from his hide.

He moved forward, slowly, shuffling his feet as he panted heavily, nearly snarling like a dog. Instinctively, he flared his blood-stained teeth, inching ever closer to his opponent. Hisagi, still observing from the other side of the room, but now standing, blinked amazed at Komamura's formidableness in taking an attack from Benihikou. He nearly allowed himself to feel concern for his well-being, but his apparent sturdiness and stamina seemed to not require it of him.

"It seems I have the lot of fighting the beasts these days," observed Tousen after hearing the ravenous growl from under Komamura's breath.

"You mock me for what I am, when you, too, have an unfortunate handicap with which you were born. I find that you are also the very definition of a hypocrite, Tousen. How unfortunate that is."

"Don't place me in the same league as you because of my blindness, Komamura," said Tousen, venomously. "You have always tried to equate yourself with the human souls, but no matter how hard you try, you will always be a worthless street dog!"

"Uhn..." gasped Hisagi at this insult. His eyes grew wide as he gaped at Komamura, expecting him to react in some ferocious way. Surprisingly, Komamura stood silently on, staring back at his once long time friend and nakama with no reaction at all. He was centered and calm, even breathing normally again as his wounds continued to drip blood.

"Say what you will, Tousen," he said, the words steadily marching out of his mouth, "But, you cannot change the past. You were once a good person and my dearest friend. I know you were sincere at one point in time. That is why this is a tragedy. You have fallen from your mighty horse and now you only wait for death to trample on you."

Hisagi's face suddenly froze with fright. Komamura held out his zanpakuto directly perpendicular to his side, his bright eyes gleaming in the sunlit room.

"Bankai, _Kokujou Tengen Myou'ou..." _

Komamura's body suddenly began to enlarge 5 times its normal size along with everything he was wearing and his zanpakuto. Now a colossal giant with the tips of his pointy ears mildly scraping the ceiling, his yellow eyes glanced down at the minuscule form of Tousen, still standing in the same spot, looking directly in front of himself. Komamura clenched his right fist, reared back his arm, and punched down, through the air, directly at Tousen. Tousen leapt out of the way just before his gigantic fist could crush him, causing the floor in that spot to crumble and cave-in the same diameter as Komamura's knuckle-span.

"Too slow, Komamura!" shouted Tousen, as he landed in a far corner of the room, still facing Komamura.

"Yes, I am slower when my size is enlarged, but my power also becomes equal to my size. You don't want to be on the receiving end of one of my blows."

"Well, all I can say is I hope you're prepared to chase me all over the room, because you simply will never be able to catch me," snickered Tousen, leaping from one part of the room to another, jumping off the walls as Komamura punched a hole into each spot he stood in.

Then, the smile Tousen somehow managed to give birth to began to sink before it got a chance to fully bloom, when he felt the sharp end of an unexpected blade nearly pressing into the bare part of his bandaged neck. He froze, realizing that the only spectator in the room was now part of the battle, as Hisagi held his own zanpakuto at his throat.

"Funny," began Hisagi, standing behind Tousen's back, "this is exactly what the two of us were doing the very last time we saw each other. It appears we must repeat history once again, for _someone_ never learned his lesson..."

"Shuuhei!" screamed Tousen, "get out of my way, you imbecile!"

"Not a chance," he said glaring at him from behind, "This time, you won't get away."

"_Shuuhei!"_ screamed Tousen again, even more forcefully as he felt the crushing reiatsu slowly rolling towards him in the form of Komamura's bankai. Step by step, the gigantic wolf lumbered closer and closer to his target, very calmly, yet determined. Once in range, he again reared back his fist-clenched arm, and with one loud bellow, aimed a deadly punch directly at Tousen. Tousen, unable to move away from Hisagi's blade at his throat, screamed at him one more time, but his voice was masked by the piercing howl from his terrifying opponent. As his fist came crashing down, Hisagi leapt up into the air just in time to avoid the hit, which landed directly onto Tousen, immediately pulverizing him into the ground.

As the dust began to settle around the scene, Komamura slowly lifted his enlarged fist away from Tousen, exposing the crumpled remains of his mangled body. His own body returned to its usual size as he sealed his zanpakuto. The intense energy of the battle faded and he and Hisagi were able to hear the very faint sound of Tousen's lungs gasping for breath.

"He's still alive," observed Hisagi, as Tousen coughed and gasped.

"_Yes, I am still...alive," _whispered Tousen, barely able to voice these few words.

"Then, listen to me," commanded Hisagi, holding the tip of his blade, again, to Tousen's throat as he lay helpless on the chunks of concrete. _"I...I...I always looked up to you, Captain..."_

The tears began to flow from Hisagi's slanted eyes, like a melancholy river of sadness bleeding from his broken heart. Despite having no desire to appear weak, he could not hold back the flood of emotion which now began to tear down the wall that dammed his feelings from ever coming to the surface of his awareness.

"I trusted you, I believed in you and you went and betrayed me, and even your best friend!"

He had learned over the months to avoid the pain by occupying himself with Tousen's abandoned work, coupled with his own responsibilities as a lieutenant, until he had been promoted to the captaincy. But, now that he could express himself to the man who murdered his heart, he lost all self-restraint.

"Why...did you do this, sir?" he asked, the tears dripping from his chin as he knelt down to the ground next to him. His sword still pointed in his direction, but was no longer anywhere near his neck or body anymore. _"Why...? Why...?"_

"Even if he could answer you, Shuuhei," interjected Komamura, as Hisagi wiped his own wet face with the back of his hands, "I doubt you can accept his answer. Whatever it is, it is too far beyond reason and understanding for beings like us. It would be like trying to comprehend the ramblings of an insane man. We'll probably never make any sense of it."

He stepped over to Hisagi, examining him from the ground as the young man shook from his uncontrollable emotions.

"Your wound," began Komamura, "how is your wound?"

"Uh, it's fine," said Hisagi, his voice quaking, "I wrapped it up in a small bandage during your sword-fight. What about _your_ wounds, Captain?"

"Don't worry about me," he shot back, "my wounds are nothing. I say we head out and find our lieutenants. They must be growing concerned about us."

"Will he die?" asked Hisagi, tentatively rising to his feet.

"Yes...after much struggle to breathe with his collapsed lungs, he will eventually die in this spot, if not given aid. So, we have accomplished what we set out to do. Let's go..."

Hisagi nodded once in the affirmative to the suggestion. Careful of their own crippled bodies, they walked slowly away from the battle scene to the entrance of the south darkened corridor, and stepped through, without even a glance back at their past...

(...To be continued...)


	17. Dreams Are All We Have

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 17: "Dreams Are All We Have"**

"_Hey, Stark!_ How's it going?" chirped Lilinet, poking her head out from behind a tall, thick mahogany curtain hanging up against a wall in the very large, spacious room. Stark yelped, nearly shooting to the ceiling from his piano bench.

"_Lilinet..."_ he began to whisper, turning his goatee-sporting chin over his right shoulder to peer at her from the side of his sleepy eye. She beamed at him with her large, round eyes, and her right hand flashing him the _"peace"_ sign. "You know you're not supposed to be in here..."

"I know," she whispered back, catching on this time, trying to hide her head, "but, I wanted to wish you good luck. You're gonna need it if you're drunk!"

"_Shush!"_ he said, trying to whisper through a knee-jerk frustrated reaction and a phony smile to cover it up. "Go away now, please..."

His fingers danced over the black-and-white piano keys while his eyes checked, in intervals, the man standing silently in the middle of the room, who was facing the two main entry doors.

"_She's almost here, Stark!"_ said Lilinet, again, poking her head out from behind the heavy curtain. "She's coming down the hallway now! You have to stop practicing when she gets here, remember?"

"I know, I know—just shut-up! Go soak your head somewhere," he whispered, trying to look like a ventriloquist. The feared man in the center of the barren room was none other than Aizen, and he glanced mildly over at Stark from the corner of his eye, which startled him as he ran his fingers over the last of the keys.

"Sorry about that, Sou-jii," he said, standing from the bench, dressed from neck-to-foot in black evening wear that resembled a man's suit from a bygone era, "I've finished my warm-up."

"Not a problem, Stark..." said Aizen, cooly, turning his head and attention back to the two closed doors several feet in front of him. Both men stood perfectly still and silent, hands placed firmly behind their backs, postures as upright as fresh soldiers on a battlefield.

"So, how do I look?" asked Aizen, breaking the silence.

"Uh...dashing and dapper, as expected, Sou-jii," said Stark, slightly caught off guard. He cleared his throat, trying not to look directly at him. "You've got nothing to worry about. You're a regular 'lady-killer...'"

"Hmm...I never worry about anything—you should know that by now, after all this time, Stark."

"Oh, it was just an expression," said Stark, glancing over at Aizen, and then quickly back to the opposite wall, while repositioning his feet, "Of course, Aizen Sousuke-jii is unmovable."

"To be sure..." confirmed Aizen nonchalantly, tugging on his swanky coat collar to adjust it perfectly.

Suddenly, the two closed doors he watched slowly began to open, revealing a very bewildered Orihime and her escort, Ulquiorra, standing just a couple of feet behind her. She carefully stepped into the large room from the darkened hallway, into the faint light. It revealed her evening attire—a long, sheen maroon-colored gown with an empire bodice and small strap-sleeves draped below her bare shoulders. Her hair had been done-up in a bun at the crown of her head, with some bangs hanging over her forehead and hugging her right cheek.

"What—what's all this?" she asked, confused, glancing all over room in an attempt to enlighten herself while holding up her dress with her gloved hands. Aizen stood several feet in front of her beneath a large, dimly lit crystal chandelier suspended from the high-vaulted ceiling above. He wore a black suit and a satin maroon vest with shiny decorative buttons. His white collar poked up in the air and was wrapped by his vest-matching cravat, ever so elegantly tied and tucked neatly into his buttoned vest.

"The sun has finally parted the dark clouds," said Aizen deeply, peering at her with his golden eyes ablaze. "How nice of you to come and join me this fine evening, Orihime."

"Why am I wearing this dress? Why are you wearing that suit, Aizen-san?" she asked, stepping towards him, but still gawking around at the room. Far behind Aizen, she spotted a fire place with burning logs nestled inside, and over to the left of it, she finally noticed a large, black piano with a man standing behind it, dressed in a black suit. Of course, these details only added to her confusion and unease.

"Thank you for escorting her here, Ulquiorra. You may go now," said Aizen.

"My pleasure, sir," responded Ulquiorra, bowing at him. He quickly and quietly closed the doors behind him from the hallway.

"Orihime," began Aizen, cracking a grin that pulled one side of his mouth up towards his cheek, "you look _exquisite_ tonight—just as I imagined you would."

"But, I don't understand," she said, her saucer-like eyes trembling ever so slightly at him.

"It's nothing to fret over," he said, "this is a ballroom...for dancing..."

"Dancing?" she asked, becoming more afraid. Almost instantly she remembered having never danced with a man before, except for the spontaneous occasions when she danced with her older brother, Sora, as a small child, while standing on the tops of his feet. She began to step backwards, away from Aizen.

"Please, come to me, Orihime," he gently implored, holding out his right hand to her, "you have nothing to fear..."

She clasped her hands together over her heart and looked down at the floor, sighing mildly. Then, she took a trepidatious step towards him, and then another, and another, until she was standing in front of him, directly beneath his tall, statuesque gait. She glanced up at him as he gazed down at her, his eyes flickering like the flames from the fireplace.

"This is for you," he said, as he moved his left hand from behind his back to the front, revealing a single, dark red rose and attached stem. Her eyes widened with surprise and she found herself reaching for it, taking it by hand, as if nearly hypnotized by it. She stared at it for a moment and let escape another light sigh from her lips.

Suddenly, he reached over to her bare left shoulder and delicately ran his fingers tips over her smooth ivory skin. Immediately, she stiffened from the electrifying sensation emitted from his sensuous touch.

"Your skin is very soft, Orihime," he said, as if to inform her of something about herself she was unaware. She closed her eyes, her long, curly lashes jutting out, and mildly turned her head to the side as a rosy hue began to bloom upon her buxom cheeks.

Aizen turned his head towards Stark who was still standing ready to comply with any given command over by the piano, and gave him a firm nod. Stark nodded back in confirmation, and turned to the back wall just behind him to see a prominent light switch mounted upon it. As he began to step towards it, suddenly a boney, white hand popped out from the nearby curtain and flipped it to the off-position. Stark sighed, rolling his eyes, as the skinny fingers flashed a _"peace"_ sign at him.

"Shall we dance?" asked Aizen, holding out his ready hands to receive Orihime. She became nervous to see the lights go dim, and doubly so upon his asking for the dancing to begin. Consequently, she took a step backwards, but once the sound of music emanating from the piano at the other side of the room reached her ears, she stalled. Stark effortlessly rolled his white-gloved fingers over the piano keys, gently playing the old tune known as, "Obokuri Ee-Umi."

"This old Okinawan song is one of my favorites," said Aizen, as Orihime stepped close enough towards him, holding out both her hands. He carefully took her right hand, still gripping the red rose, in his own and placed his own right hand cosily upon her curvaceous left hip. He began to shuffle his feet to the side, very slowly, so as to allow her to follow his lead as easily as she could, as well to follow the flow of the gentle harmony.

As the music resonated from the piano's inner chords, she allowed the mildly familiar song to flow into her ear drums, as she glided ever so lightly across the smooth, shiny floor, held firmly in Aizen's grasp. Once Stark reached the chorus, she felt the song's hauntingly melancholic melody sweetly seep into her mind, transporting her into a dreamlike state of semi-unconsciousness. Still, she moved her feet perfectly in time with each of Aizen's steps, her eyes closed, and her mind off in a reverie, filled with those beautiful memories when she stood on Sora's large, brotherly feet and happily danced around in circles with him in their living room. She became completely lost in the atmosphere, as the ballroom and its surroundings serenely melted away from her awareness.

Once Aizen noticed her hypnotic state begin to deepen rather profoundly, he slowed his pace, as she automatically followed. He observed her closed eyes as they faced up at him, his pace beginning to slow to a halt, and her mind still teeming with whatever fancies he imagined were dancing around in it. Slowly, he leaned down to her face and lightly placed his lips upon hers, only kissing her just mildly enough to awaken her from her dream. As he raised his head, her eyes gently began to open, only partially at first, as her reverie dissolved away. A moment later, she fully opened her eyes, staring back up at him, completely unaware he had done anything to her at all.

"Welcome back, my dear," he said, his feet moving again to the continuing music.

"I drifted off..." she softly admitted, her body relaxed, as if a doll in Aizen's hands.

"Yes, but I caught you just in time before you could slip away," he said. By now, the old song had ended and Stark began to play another tune, as Aizen's feet came a complete stop. He placed both of his hands around her waist while both her hands rested on his upper-arms. "I hope you're ready for tomorrow morning..."

She suddenly furrowed her brow at the recollection that the next morning was to be the day of their wedding ceremony.

"Why such a sour expression?" he asked, casually grinning down at her, "You will be happy. You are the only woman I could ever be with, Orihime. A living, breathing goddess for me to behold. Who is better suited for me? _You_ are the ideal—as if you existed solely to be mine..."

The confession made her brows soften and her eyes gape at him. She stared him down as if she were trying to decipher some peculiar writing on his face.

"But, with or without abilities, _I still want you..."_ he whispered to her moonstruck expression. He half closed his eyes, his hands slipping farther behind her back, as he leaned down again, this time as her eyes remained wide open. She watched as his face grew larger and larger as it slowly approached her face, his lips aimed directly for her lips. All motion slowed as he planted a firm, plump, very _real_ kiss upon them. She found her placid eyes closing as they followed the lead of his already closed lids...

...Stark finished his cleaning up and putting away of the piano materials and his accouterments after both Aizen and Orihime retired separately for the night from the room. Lilinet slouched on the bench, her pinky finger partially up one of her nostrils as she waited for him to finish. He shut the top door of the piano and plopped down on the bench next to her.

"You were right, Lilinet," he began, staring off at the wall across the room, stroking the few hairs on his chin, "he does seem smitten with her. She seems to exert a certain power over him—even I can see it now...His biggest weakness has always been innocent, pretty young girls..."

(...To be continued...)


	18. Silver and Gold

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 18: "Silver and Gold"**

Gin sauntered down one of the many sun-lit hallways that formed the path to his palace, not particularly in a hurry, despite being in one. Upon nearing his own domain, he began to hear a small cacophony of caterwauling emanating from around a nearby corner, off a little ways from the beaten path to his home. As he turned the abrupt corner, he found himself standing behind Loly and Menoly—the two girls standing three feet in front of each other—tails up in the air, claws out.

"What are you two kittens hissing about this fine mornin'?" he cheerily asked with his usual grin. He seemed about as excited as a predator who finally found some interesting prey to play with for a bit. "Could it be about the fact that Aizen-taichou and Orihime-chan are getting married in less than a half-hour?"

"I told you, Menoly, _I'm not going!" _screamed Loly to the other girl's face, practically blowing the girl's white hair back with her hot breath. "There's no way I'm attending the wedding for _those two!"_

"But, if you don't go, it'll make you look bad in front of Aizen-sama!" retorted Menoly, turning her back to the obstinate girl and folding her arms. Now that she faced Gin directly, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"This doesn't concern you, Gin, so butt-out!" she demanded, sticking her nose up in the air.

"Hmm...Well, I s'ppose you're right about that," he conceded, turning around to continue his walk. "As much as I'd love to hear more pettiness from the two of you dearies, I really must be gettin' back to my quarters to change my clothes. I have a very important wedding to attend, you know, and if I'm not there, who knows what Aizen-taichou will do to me?"

After successfully driving-home his last point so as to cause them some fear, he waved at them with the back of his hand and set off for his bed chamber. Upon entering the large and spacious palatial room, he headed for his open closet, completely removing his robes before he went inside, leaving him bare from the waist up. A moment later, he carried out with him, to the center of the room, a full suit made of white, billowy fabric, not unlike his usual attire, but with more added fringe, frill and fabric.

Before he could grab his own obi sash to undo the knot at his waist, he heard an old familiar voice calling to him from behind the open closet door.

"Gin," said the voice, firmly, but not harshly. He turned around to look behind himself.

"Rangiku..." he said, calmly, as if his surprise were too great to absorb all-at-once. She took a few steps out from behind the door, facing him head on from across the room.

"What a pleasant surprise _this_ is..." he said, the grin on his face growing larger as he spoke each word aloud. "How are you, dear old friend?"

"_What is that?"_ she shot back at him, "Why are you talking like we're bumping into each other at the market? You _do_ remember what happened the last time we saw each other, don't you?"

"I'm so sorry," he said, dropping the smile, "I didn't mean to sound like that. I'm just surprised to see ya, is all. You did catch me rather indisposed... But, I _am_ happy to see you..."

Rangiku flipped her golden hair over her shoulder and folded her arms together, moving her gaze over to corner of the floor. She shifted her weight onto her left hip, narrowing her annoyed brow.

"Rangiku," began Gin, taking a few steps towards her, "Really, I'm _more_ than just happy to see you..."

He quickly waltzed over to her, and before she knew it, he threw his lean-muscled arms around her back, nestling his chin on her left shoulder. She tensed-up from the discomfort, but only gasped.

"Gin," she asserted, breaking the momentary silence, "let go of me."

"Hmm...?" he mumbled, stepping backwards. "I haven't seen you for a while, so I've missed you. I figured hugging you would be a nice ges...ture...?"

Gin trailed off, catching his breath as he stood in front of Rangiku near the bay windows of his chamber. His eye caught a shocking glimpse of the shimmering diamond rock reflecting the morning sunlight from her left ring finger.

"Hmm..._,_" he began, trying to speak through his throat as it closed-up from his consternation, "_that_ couldn't be what I think it is, right?"

"This?" she said, holding up her left hand, the gold ring protruding prominently, "Well, if you think it's an engagement ring, then nothing gets by you..."

Gin took another step backwards and gasped within his tense throat. Then, suddenly his horror-stricken face changed into a wily smirk, as he stifled a titter with the back of his tongue and narrowed his eyes.

"How was it you had time to make _that_ kind of commitment to someone since I left the Soul Society? Come now..."

"How, you ask?" she parroted, feeling new energy surging within her body, "It wasn't difficult to find someone while you were actually _still_ _in_ the Soul Society, Gin. Of course you didn't know because you ignored me so well—ya know, one of your better talents."

"I ignored you, huh?" he echoed, his posture beginning to slouch a little. "Tell me, who is this man you're suddenly marrying?"

"Hisagi Shuuhei, and we're not _suddenly_ getting married," she emphasized. "You obviously didn't know this, but we were seeing each other for about six months before you even left me behind. How fitting that you never even suspected a thing!"

"So, that little punk gets exactly what he wants, eh?" he mused, half-stifling another chortle. "Now he's a captain, _and_ he has the woman he's always dreamed of... Why didn't you ever tell me about this while I was still around?"

"Gin, if you had been paying attention, I wouldn't have needed to tell you anything..."

He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, shrugging off his unwelcome built-up inner tension.

"I see..." he partially conceded, his arms hanging loosely by his sides, as his silver hair gleamed in the reflected sunlight. "Well, then I'll have to apologize to you for that."

"—_It's too late for apologies!"_ she screamed at his face, "That's not the reason I came here..."

"Then, why did you come here?" he asked, not moving a muscle. "You must be having second thoughts about him, and you wanted to see if I would react in some way that would make it easier for you to decide what to do..."

Rangiku gasped loudly at his boldness, her bright blue eyes bulging out. She tightened both her fists while gritting her pearly white teeth.

"_That's not it!"_ she said, very sternly, her eyes boring into his sliver-eyes. Despite Gin's nearly closed eyes all of the time, she knew how to look into them as if they were wide open.

"I think it is," he insisted, as he reached out for her right hand, "and to that, I'll add this little proposal to you... Why don't you just drop Shuuhei and stay here...with me?"

"_What?"_ she shot back in surprise, yanking her hand free from his, "What are talking about?"

"I'm talking about you staying here in Las Noches with me from now on, Rangiku," he said evenly, appearing to be in all seriousness. "Be here with me, instead..."

"_You are crazy!_ I won't stay here with you! Besides, we both know if you _really_ wanted me to come with you, you would have asked me before you left the Soul Society for good."

"That's not necessarily true," he said, cocking his head to the side, "Maybe I never told you the truth because I didn't want you to get mixed up in all of this."

"Which leads me to another question I have to ask," she said, pacing back and forth atop an ornate Asian rug on the floor. "Why _did_ you get mixed up in 'all of this,' anyway? Why are so loyal to Aizen and not to me? _I've_ always been there for you, Gin. I've known you the longest. I _knew you..."_

"So, too, has Aizen-taichou always been there for me, since we met..." he retorted, rather bluntly. "But, that doesn't matter anymore now, does it? I don't have to take sides if you stay here with me."

"I refuse to leave Shuuhei!" she barked, waving her right arm around in the air, "He's the only man who puts _me_ first above his ambition! I know he truly loves me. I could _never_ betray someone so easily, like you can..."

"Alright, then..." he said, his infamous grin widening on his face again, "I'll propose this, instead, since you're so obstinate. _Why don't you cheat on Shuuhei with me...?"_

Before Gin could even blink an eye, Rangiku planted her right palm as firmly and forcefully as she had ever struck anything in her long life, exactly on the left side of his face. The sound of the slap echoed loudly throughout the cold marble and concrete that made up his vast chamber.

"You get petty when you're jealous, Gin," she stated rather calmly, as the brunt of her anger had already been diffused by the deafening smack. "Don't think that by cuckolding him, you will somehow be teaching him a lesson. What do you take me for?"

"Maybe I just want you _that_ badly?" he suggested, holding the side of his smarting face with his hand.

"Don't give me that," she said, continuing her fairly collected demeanor, "I know you too well. You would never settle for that with anyone. You would _never_ settle for _me... _I'm not good enough for you and you know it. It's been this way since we were kids, Gin. Even though we spent every moment together in Rukongai back then, you just had to go and do your own thing. So, one day, you said your good-byes and off you went to the Academy, never to look back."

"Rangiku, I—"

"—Let me finish..." she said, cutting him off as she shuffled her feet around on the floor, "I didn't so much as hear even one word from you all those years we spent apart, until I finally entered the Gotei Thirteen myself. When I finally found you again, you were a lieutenant in the Fifth Squad and three feet taller than when I last saw you. I thought, _this is our chance to reunite and pick up things where we left off. _But, no. You barely even noticed me. So, what did I do? I did what I've been trying to do all along—get you to _notice_ me! Why do you think I started wearing my shihakuushou like this? I figured if you'd notice anything, you'd notice _these, _these 'things' that have grown so much since we were together in Rukon!"

She placed her hands on the sides of her large, partially exposed breasts and squeezed them inward, so as to make them pop out, towards him more. For a split second, Gin's eyes opened at the sight, as his eyebrows spiked up on his forehead.

"...But, it didn't work," she sighed in resignation. "It never did. You never took any notice of me anymore than just a wave as we passed by each other in the Seireitei, as if we barely even knew each other..."

"Then, I'll have to make it up to you," he said, suddenly moving towards her quickly, bashing her up against the wall a few feet behind her, as he pressed his body up against hers.

"What are you doing?" she yelped, "Gin! Get off of me!"

Completely ignoring her demands, he slid his slippery tongue all along her ivory neck from top to bottom.

"_Stop it! Stop it..."_ she said, trying hard to resist his advances, as they writhed around up against the wall. _"No...!"_

"_Rangiku..."_ he whispered into her ear before he moved his sharpened, fox-like face over to her lips. He leaned in for the kill, but stopped when he felt her hand pressing against his chest. He tried to lean his head further forward, but he remained millimeters out of reach of her lips, as the gap between them grew.

"Don't do this, Gin," she said lowly, with a hint of applied rationalism to her pleading, "Don't do something like this..."

He decided to release her from his grasp, and the two came off the wall, standing in front of each other again, as before. He had no words to rebuke her with, as he stood in silence with a straight face, listening to her every word.

"You asked me earlier why I came here," she reiterated, "I came here because you left me so suddenly. You didn't give me a chance to properly say good-bye, so I wanted to do it now, _my way_. I needed this closure so I could get on with the rest of my life. That is all..."

And with that, she began to slowly waltz away from him, towards the door leading out of his bedchamber. He followed her with his gaze as she neared the doorway.

"Rangiku," he said, opening his light teal eyes at her, as she stopped at the door, "Would you forgive me if I told you how very sorry I am for what I did to you and put you through?"

"An apology now is too late—far, far too late," she said, turning back to peer at him from the side of her eye. "Coming here, seeing what you really are—so far from decent and so much closer to something creepy and despicable... I will never see you again from this day onwards. Sayonara, Gin..."

"Wait!" he said, raising his voice, "You don't really mean that!"

She didn't even so much as flinch at this statement, as she sauntered, undauntedly, through the doorway and out the other side. He could see her image becoming less and less focused, less and less visible from where she left him standing.

"_Rangiku!"_ he hollered, despite how rare it was to ever hear his voice at such a high decibel. Still, she grew smaller and smaller in his view, as if she were floating away on a cloud, her back to him, her long, golden hair waving him farewell. _"No..."_ He tripped on a fold in the Asian rug on the floor, crashing down to his knees, probably a little too easily. From there he stared at her ever fading blurry figure until she completely disappeared from his sight.

"_I hate sad stories..."_ he mumbled to himself, closing his eyes, as he bowed his head down to the cold, hard ground...

(...To be continued in Chapter 19...)


	19. One Love, One Blood

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 19: "One Love, One Blood"**

Orihime stood motionless in front of her bathroom mirror, staring back at the image of herself reflected in the glass. It was not so familiar-looking as it had been before, despite all her hair, face, eyes, and shoulders being exactly the same. She needed only to awaken more and develop color in her face from a strange and uneasy night of sleeping. As she began to prepare herself for the most important event of her life, she pulled a large white brush through her hair, and recalled the intense dream she had only the previous night, which made her narrow her brow upon reliving it in her thoughts.

In her stirring dream, she saw her older brother Sora in a scene she experienced with him while he was still alive and she was only a small girl. They had a conversation she remembered having with him at that time, about the day Orihime would get married. The discussion arose because a young woman friend had been frequenting their apartment in an attempt to draw out a marriage proposal from Sora, but he was quick to reassure his little sister he would never do such a thing.

"No, Orihime, I have no plans to marry Keiko," he said, as he pulled the covers of her bed over her legs and slowly lowered the back of her head down to her pillow. "I'm still kind of young to get married, and I just can't see myself devoted to any other woman but you, anyway."

He grinned so wide and sweetly, the lids of his eyes squeezed shut at her little round face.

"But doesn't Onii-chan love Keiko?" she asked, in the childish voice of a kindergartner.

"Well, I like her very much," he responded, nestling his elbows into the side of her Western style bed, and folding his arms while on his knees. "But, love is too strong a word for it. I do love you, Orihime, so don't you worry about that. No one will ever come between us..."

She had felt reassured that her big brother wasn't going to replace her with a wife, which she had selfishly worried he would do. She giggled at how unfair such a thing as that was to want from him back then—to not want him to be happy with some woman he might fall in love with. Back then, she never thought about how it might be wonderful to have had a big sister around, and even little babies she could have played with that would have been her nieces and nephews. If only she had allowed for it, or encouraged it, Sora could have perhaps married and left her a piece of himself in those children, as well as a big sister to continue raising her on her own. But, she only ever thought of Sora as her family and no one else at that time.

"...That is, of course, until _you_ get married..."

Orihime's large brown eyes widened at the idea, as she stared back into the kindness of her brother's eyes. "Until _I_ get married?" she said, lisping, her face perplexed.

"Yes," he explained, "when you get married one day, you and I will have to part, but only so you can live with your husband."

"But, I thought _you_ were going to be my husband, Onii-chan!" she loudly declared.

"No, Orihime, I can't marry you," he chuckled. "You are my little sister, and big brothers are not supposed to marry their little sisters. You will have to marry a different man from outside of our family."

"_Oh..."_ she said, still looking wide-eyed at him, slipping her stubby index finger into her mouth, as her wrinkled brow began to relax.

"Yes, and on your wedding day to this wonderful man, whom I will have to approve of, I will give you away, just like any good father, or big brother, would do." He paused as he peered into her wide eyes. Then, he quickly zoomed into her face, only a few inches away, tickling her nose with his silky black hair, "and you will love this man _almost_ as much as me!" He grinned and laughed again, and she slightly grinned back, as she comprehended his words.

"_But, I only love you!"_ she said, smiling and holding her arms out to embrace him. She threw her chubby hands around his neck and squished her fat cheek up against his more chizzled and angular facial features, as they fit each other perfectly somehow.

"It makes me so happy to hear that," he said, his countenance soft and bright. "But, you will love some other man one day, and when you do, I will give you a grand and beautiful wedding, and the two of you will be married for the rest of your lives. Then, you will have children that I will call 'nephew' and 'niece,' and I will love them like I would if they were my own children...Just like how I love you..."

Tears welled-up in Orihime's eyes as she recalled this dream and memory from a happier yesteryear. She stepped outside of the bathroom and into her bedroom where she sat on the bed, holding her abdomen as the tears streamed down her pale cheeks. These beautiful memories contrasted so forcefully with the reality she was now facing, she felt her stomach tighten with nausea.

"I'm so nervous..." she said aloud to herself. Then, the face of Ichigo and his flaming orange hair suddenly flitted across her mind as if she were watching a movie on a big screen.

_"Kurosaki-kun..."_

She bowed her head as if in great pain. "This is not the way it was supposed to be..." she said softly, holding the side of her forehead with her hand, as pieces of her hair laced through her separated fingers fell in front of her face. She glanced over at the picture of Sora on her night stand as he beamed rays of love back at her tear-filled eyes. _"Onii-chan..." _

(...To be continued...)

** A/N:** Sorry I haven't updated this story in so long! I had permanently abandoned it, but then I decided to change how I was going to end it, and now I'm back to writing it again. It'll be different from what I originally wanted to do with it, but you all won't even notice. Hopefully, it won't take too many more chapters to finish. Thanks again for reading!


	20. Bizarre Love Triangle

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 20: "Bizarre Love Triangle"**

Walking down the darkened corridor, Orihime could almost smell the festive aroma wafting towards her as she strode as gracefully as she could into the large foyer. Ulquiorra stepped into the foyer ahead of her and stopped as she followed behind him. There, she was enveloped by a great scene of pre-matrimonial splendor. The great and high vaulted hall was lighted by the morning sun from outside the long bay windows embedded in its eastern wall, windows made of green, red, yellow, and blue glass pieces cut and designed like the majestic windows of a cathedral. She awed at the entirety of it with her gaping cedar eyes as the sunlight drenched her face and entire being.

Aizen turned from having his back to her, just as the sun lit her up, as he stood near the entrance to the chapel-like room of the impending ceremony. His honest initial reaction upon witnessing her enter the hall caused his pupils to dilate, as he absorbed her glorious, angelic appearance. Distracted by the several white flowery decorations strewn about the room, and its overall brightness, she stood in the center of it wearing a long, white, satin gown, tight at her strapless bodice, that poofed out from her tiny waist. Behind her followed a long trail flowing from her gown, sweeping the pristine floor. Part of her hair was anchored by an ornate golden clip while the rest flowed long and beautifully around her arms and back. Her face and shoulders were covered by a delicate lace veil. She clutched at the white flower bouquet with both her nervous hands.

Finally, after surveying the entire hall and the several people randomly standing around in it, she noticed Aizen staring at her from across the room. She locked eyes with him, but quickly lowered her glance and eyelids down to the ground. He waltzed over to her, casually, without lifting his gaze upon her for even a second.

"Everything I had hoped for," he declared, as she poked her head back up at him, startled by his comment. "The dress you've chosen is remarkable, Orihime. Even I didn't think you could look any more beautiful..."

She blushed and bowed her head again, but that only made Aizen smile at her. After he chuckled a bit at her cute reaction, she couldn't help but peer around at the hall again, still taken aback so mercilessly by its extravagance.

"This whole room looks so... so... heavenly," she admitted in spite of herself. She struggled to get the words out for she didn't want to concede the truth of what her eyes revealed to her. She couldn't understand how such a scene as the one before her could be possible in a dreary place like Hueco Mundo. She blinked to comprehend the contradiction.

"_But, of course it looks that way,"_ chimed a man's voice coming up from behind her, "it _is_ Aizen-taichou's wedding, afterall. How could it be anything less than heavenly?"

Orihime jerked her head to look behind her only to behold Ichimaru Gin's ever-happy, grinning, sun-drenched face beaming back at her. "Ichimaru-san?"

"_Mm-hmm..."_ he affirmed, nodding. His silvery hair shimmered like metal in the sunlight as he tugged lightly at his own ornately folded and flowing white attire.

"Gin is going to be walking you down the aisle, Orihime," said Aizen, still grinning mildly at her countenance, "He will be giving you away to me..."

Suddenly, she froze. She realized she would be given away at her own wedding by someone other than Sora, a reality that had never hit her so hard, so cruelly until that moment. And, of all people, the man to perform the task instead had to be Ichimaru Gin. Although, she felt a twinge of nausea overwhelm her, she tried her best to wince inwardly without drawing anyone's notice.

"Remember, I'm your big brother now!" declared the squinty-eyed knave, chortling jovially into her face while grabbing her bare shoulder. Her face fell forlorn. Aizen noticed the wistful change in her expression, and raised a slightly concerned eyebrow at it.

"...It seems Gin will have to endeavor to be worthy of escorting you to my side," said Aizen, giving Gin a large, scolding left eye. Gin lifted both of his own eyebrows and hands at Aizen's interesting comment, but he submitted to the implied command with a quick nod.

"Shall we begin?" asked Aizen. He glanced over at Orihime as Gin walked over to her other side. "I'll see you at the alter, Orihime..." he said, mildly nodding at her and smiling. Then, he waltzed casually down the aisle towards the head, wear Barragan was milling about, preparing for his role in the ceremony.

Stark and Lilinet sauntered into the chapel, taking a seat next to each other in a pew. "Geez, Barra-jii looks like the friggin' Pope with that hat on his head," observed Stark to a disinterested Lilinet, as he scratched his mussy hair.

"Chuh... You didn't even wear anything special today, Stark!" hooted Lilinet, whacking him across the shoulder. "Doesn't Aizen's wedding mean anything to you?" She folded her arms across her pink froofy dress, giving him a critical glare out the side of her eye.

"Weddings are boring,"he declared, slouching up against the back of the pew, "As long as I can get away with sleeping through it, I'll be okay, though... By the way, did you pick out that dress yourself?"

"_So what if I did!?"_ she shot back, punching him in the face as he let out an _"Oof!"_

"I was gonna say it's more age-appropriate than what you normally wear," he spat out just before she grabbed his crotch and began pulling on his genitals. _"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Okay, let go, Lilinet! LET GO!_" he screamed. She released him after a few painful seconds as he reflexively placed his hands over his pelvis.

"You're really gonna have to stop doing that..." he winced.

"Huh... You like it," she muttered.

Aizen made his way gracefully to the alter as his long flowing robes lightly swept the hard granite floor. His heels gently clicked with each step he took. He wore all white robes, several overlaying each other, tucked into a pure white hakama and sash, except for the outermost robe, which hung all the way to the ground, forming a small trail behind him. It made him appear regally fattened, much like how his captain's haori did from those past Soul Society days. His hair was styled in the usual way and was, perhaps, trimmed slightly, but he seemed to gleam a little brighter than was commonplace even for him, so noted Loly and Menoly's expressions from across the room.

"_Wow..."_ said Menoly, her eyes bulging out as her mouth gaped open. "He looks like he's slowly floating in mid-air!" Loly's gaze was equally indicative of amazement, but she quickly snarled her nose, snapping out of it.

"—_And that milk cow's the one who's gonna be standing next to him up there?! ...Chuh..." _she said, nearly spitting out the disdain from the side of her mouth. "Let's just get this thing over with, already..."

Orihime peered at Gin from the side of her eye, while back in the foyer, as she awaited her cue to emerge. He reached over and interlaced his slender, albeit smothered in flowly fabric, arm within her arm, wrapped by a white satin glove that extended up to a point above her elbow. He glanced over at her and chuckled under his breath, as if his excitement were becoming difficult to contain.

An arrancarized violinist inside the chapel began to brush his bow across the strings of his wooden instrument, producing a smooth and melodic tune that sounded like a perfect blend joy and sorrow. This signaled Gin to begin his and Orihime's stroll down the aisle, which made him shuffle his feet into position.

"Come now, Orihime-chan," he said gleefully, "you're big moment awaits you." She moved her feet in-step with his, slowing sauntering along the long, narrow path beside him. Her cheeks began to tremble as the tears welled-up in her eyes, but she held them back as best she could muster.

"Isn't this the kind of thing you could only hope for," said Gin, as he decided to declare the statement without asking the question. "Aren't you one very lucky girl, Orihime-chan! You get to marry Aizen-taichou and become his queen. A lot of other girls are envious of you now..."

Orihime only glanced at him as he said this, and afterward, peered down at the ground with mournful eyes as they marched ahead. She closed her eyes, thinking she could open them again and awaken from the dream she was having. All of a sudden, Gin stopped approximately halfway down the aisle. Once she realized she wasn't being led forward any longer, she flicked opened her eyes to see an unexpected, but familiar toothy grin blaring back a her. She gasped, completely astonished, as did nearly everyone else in the chapel, expect for Gin and Aizen.

"How're ya doing, Orihime-chan?" asked the large, gaping set of teeth.

"H...Hirako...kun?" she asked in return, the blood draining away from her face.

"Hmph...Now, that's what_ I_ call her," declared Gin, with a closed grin and slit eyes. "That won't do at all..."

"I'm sorry, Gin," said Shinji, placing his hand over his heart, "will you accept the deepest apologies from your former captain?"

"_C...Captain?"_ said Orihime, with very little breath behind it.

"By the way, you've grown to be so much taller than me!" Shinji put out his hand up to the crown of Gin's head, leveling it with the ground to indicate the latter's six-feet-one-inches of stature that happened to be a few inches above his own. Then, he quickly patted him on his silvery head. "You've grown up nice-and-tall, haven't ya kiddo!"

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Aizen, cooly, as he stood behind Shinji down the aisle. Orihime's heart began to pump faster and faster. Shinji, alerted, turned to look behind him.

"_Sousuke!"_ he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air, chuckling. "Hey, I barely noticed ya way over there!"

"That's odd... I don't remember having invited you to my wedding, Captain Hirako," stated Aizen, as his tawny eyes narrowed slightly at him.

"Oh, well, that's okay because I really only came here to get Orihime-chan, anyway!" he tittered. "Ya know, me and Orihime-chan go _waaaay_ back, even before _you_ met her, Sousuke! Yeah, she was my _first love..."_

Shinji threw an arm around Orihime's shoulder, as the red hearts practically jutted from his eyes, pulling her away from Gin a bit. This, strangely didn't have the effect of amusing the typically easily-amused man much. Orihime's eyes grew even larger, despite how it was nearly impossible at that point. Aizen merely guffawed at Shinji's immature gesture...

"—Whoa...this is a truly amazing wedding you've planned here, Aizen!" came an impromptu holler from the foyer. All eyes, including Orihime's, suddenly turned towards the direction of the owner of the newly intruding voice, as he meandered his way down the aisle from the chapel's entrance.

"Inoue sure is worthy of a spread like this, but, of course... _not if you're the groom!" _he boldy declared, pointing an index finger in his direction.

"—_Kurosaki-kun!" _shouted Orihime, gasping, as she jerked her head to look behind her...

(...to be continued in Chapter 21...)


	21. Everyone, But The Kitchen Sink

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 21: "Everyone, But The Kitchen Sink"**

"Kurosaki...kun..." muttered Orihime, shocked into repeating herself.

"I'm sorry that we are just now getting here, Inoue," said Ichigo, trudging into the chapel through the doorway. "But, I had a lot of training to do, and even now, I haven't fully mastered what I've been learning... but, it's enough."

He slung his over-sized kitchen knife onto the tops of his shoulders and gave her a tough, yet reassuring grin.

"Ichigo!" said another rushed voice sprinting up from behind him, entering the room.

"Right, Rukia—there you are. Glad you guys could make it in time..." he said as he kept his eyes peeled on Aizen.

"Kuchiki-san!" chirped Orihime, nearly choking on her own excitement. "Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, Renji-kun!"

"Yep, they're all here with me, Inoue," said Ichigo, still staring only over at Aizen as he inched slowly towards him. The other four newcomers dashed into the chapel and slammed to a halt once inside the doorway.

"Inoue..." called Rukia, peering over at Orihime, her large eyes softening and glistening in the bright lights. Her expression illustrated all-too-well how happy she was to see her again after such a long ordeal. Orihime's face lit-up like a Christmas tree to see her good friend in such great health, after worrying about her so much earlier. Once again, she had to hold back the tears.

"_Hey, hey!_ You guys!" screamed yet another voice from outside the chapel charging towards them all. "Don't forget about us! We love weddings!"

"_You didn't have to wun so fas wis out us, Itsygo!"_ screamed little Nel as she and her desert brothers, Pessche, and Dondo Chakka came to crash the wedding, too.

"—Yanzu!" added Dondo Chakka, for no particular reason.

"Just stay back there, Nel," said Ichigo, "This fight is gonna be far too dangerous for you guys to get involved. It's me versus Aizen-time..."

"_He's gonna die! He's gonna die for sure this time!"_ screamed Nel, Pessche, and Dondo Chakka all in unison, as if for this one occasion they actually shared enough of a brain to get their team chanting synchronized, for a change.

"_Shut-up, you guys!"_ he yelled over to them. "The only one dying here this time... _is him,"_ he said pointing to Aizen, who incidentally, looked as happy as he usually did.

"How amusing," observed Aizen, perhaps pleased by the entertainment aspect all these characters brought to the scene. "I never dreamed my own wedding would turn into a three-ring circus."

"It's about to get even worse, so prepare yourself, Aizen Sousuke!" said Ichigo, whipping a looming index finger around at him. Suddenly, he leapt straight up into the air, holding out Zangetsu with his right arm from his side and his accusing left-hand finger still pointed at Aizen, as he peered down at the ground. Without even so much as a mutter from his lips, his black robes morphed into one long black fitted jacket, as his sword transformed into a black katana with an extended blade. He looked up at his opponent from a distance with a quick glance, furrowed his brow, and steadied his pointing finger...

"_CERO!"_ he screamed, as a red circle of light began to form like a bubble in front of his finger, growing larger and larger with each passing nanosecond. It's shrill sound grew louder and louder like the sound of a rocket about to bolt into space from its launching pad. Everyone began to gasp and panic, even if just slightly. Orihime's deer-in-the-headlights expression locked onto Ichigo as he hovered above her only a matter of feet away.

Suddenly, the red bubble of light spat out a huge ray of light aimed directly at Aizen, as he stood in the same place, not moving a muscle. Gin grabbed Orihime and flung himself into the aisle to his right, as Shinji jumped out of the way to his left. Someone flash-stepped to intercept the beam with his arm, as it deflected over to a second-story balcony to the side of the room, destroying it completely and leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

"You didn't have to do that, Stark," said Aizen, to the long-haired man as he shoved his hands back into his pants pockets. "Such a dull cero would have had no effect on me whatsoever..."

"I realize that, but I just wanted to be sure, old man," he said in his own defense.

Shinji charged at Ichigo, grabbing him by the collar, yanking him over to his nose.

"_What were you thinking, idiot?! Orihime was in your line-of-fire! You could have killed her!!"_

"But, I was aiming at Aizen, so she wouldn't have been hit!"

"Don't be so reckless, or you're gonna kill the wrong person, you fool!" Shinji stomped his feet on the ground after throwing Ichigo back with his hand from their nose-to-nose confrontation.

"I happen to agree with Hirako on this issue," interjected Uryuu, pushing up his glasses higher onto his nose.

"Me, too," said Renji, folding his arms across his chest as he gave Ichigo a semi-disgusted glance. "You were just trying to be cool," he said, looking away with his eyes shut.

"Guys, I'm trying to save Inoue here! A little support, please!" he pleaded, stumbling around a bit.

"Just be more careful, next time, Uryuu," advised Pessche, pointing an index finger into the air.

"—_I'm _Uryuu, you idiot!"screamed the real Uryuu over at him.

"—Yanzu!" said Dondo Chakka.

"Itsygo!"

"Not now, Nel," said Ichigo. "Right now, I'm trying to finish this guy off. But, it looks like my under-developed cero just isn't going to be enough. No, that'll never do against a guy like Aizen, will it? How could I even think that?"

He took a step forward as his eyes drifted off into space. His comrades all took notice of his words and change of expression, and added to it with their own raised eyebrows.

"It's time to do it, Hirako. You have to back me up. This is our only chance to beat Aizen, and there's no other way. We've discussed it, we've planned it, and now we have to put it into action. Use your kidou along with Rukia's when I reach the critical level to bind me down, so I won't become a danger to the others."

"Does he mean...?" asked Renji down at Rukia as he trailed off.

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure he means _that..."_ she said, somberly.

"So, it's come to _that,_ then?" he said in return...

"—Gin," said Aizen, suddenly, "take Orihime somewhere safe."

"As you wish, Aizen-taichou," he answered, wrapping his arm around Orihime's waist from behind. He held out her right arm and disappeared for a moment from everyone's senses, but just as quickly reappeared on the balcony opposite the fallen balcony on the other side of the chapel.

"Where did he take...?" asked Uryuu, as he finally noticed where she had reappeared.

"There she is," said Chad, pointing to her up on the balcony as Gin held her back up against his chest. Suddenly, all of them, except Chad, flash-stepped to the balcony in a split second, surrounding Gin on all sides, drawing their weapons at his neck.

"We're not going to let you run off with her, Captain Ichimaru," said Renji in a very commanding tone.

"Don't even think about moving, Captain," reiterated Rukia down from her short stature.

"The funny thing is, I don't intend to leave this spot," he said, smiling as usual. "Aizen-taichou only told me to take Orihime somewhere safe, and here I can do that, and still be able to watch the proceedings. Unless ordered by my master, I absolutely will not budge from this balcony. I'm far too enslaved by my own curiosity to ever do that."

"I see..." said Rukia, as they all began to lower their swords and spirit-arrow.

"I must say, it's so good to see you again in the flesh, Rukia-chan," said Gin, peering down at her with slightly opened eyes. "I have to admit I've _dearly_ missed being near you these past few months."

"_Shut your filthy mouth!"_ she snapped, drawing the tip of her blade back up to his mouth.

"Settle down, Rukia," said Renji, holding out his hands. She glowered at Gin for a lingering moment, then moved her gaze back down to the action on the ground floor, as she sheathed her sword to her side. Glancing down, she saw Shuuhei suddenly appear just inside the doorway to the chapel, trailed by his lieutenant. The others immediately noticed his presence, also, as did Nel and her brothers, which, of course, startled them.

"—Fall back, Lieutenant," said Shuuhei to his vice-captain.

"Yes, Captain," said the young man, as he stepped to the outside of the room, into the foyer.

"Ah! Hisagi-san!" shouted Renji from the balcony, waving his arm in the air. "You can use your kidou to back-up Ichigo!"

Shuuhei glanced over at Ichigo, who briefly glanced back at him, as he assessed the situation he stumbled upon.

"Hmm...If you need my kidou for any reason, you have it," said Shuuhei, bowing politely to Ichigo.

"Thanks, Hisagi-san," said Ichigo, nodding at him. "It's time...Let's do this thing..."

"You're finally ready to begin?" asked Aizen, smirking at him. "One thing you don't understand, boy, is that even if you rescue Orihime, she will still belong to me. That won't change no matter what."

Ichigo's expression shifted from over-confidence to bewilderment in a second. He scrunched his eyebrows with a brief consternation as he seemed to mull something over in his mind.

"Grimmjow said something to me during our last fight—that you had done something to Inoue 'on the inside.' _What did you do to her?!"_ he urged, raising his voice.

"You can take the girl out of Las Noches, but you can't take Las Noches out of the girl..." said Aizen, giving off an air of cleverness coupled with a sinister smirk.

"_Quit speaking in riddles, you bastard! What did you do?!"_

"Whatever was done to her will eventually become apparent to everyone. So, it does not require me to divulge it now."

Orihime gulped from the balcony as she over-heard their conversation. She recalled hearing Grimmjow mention something odd about herself during that fight. Hearing about it again made her heart race a little more than it already was.

"Fine then—don't tell me," conceded Ichigo. "Whatever it is won't matter once I've defeated you, anyway. I'm gonna do this very dangerous technique so I can be sure you won't be able to do these evil little things you love doing so much, anymore..."

Ichigo began to slide closer and closer to Aizen while still remaining several feet away from him. He spoke slowly and deliberately, seeming to need to stall for time to mentally prepare himself for the task at hand.

"I hate to admit it, but it's _that guy_ who has to fight this fight because only he can tear you limb from limb, Aizen," began Ichigo. "Only he has enough instinct to do something like that!"

"_That guy,_ eh?" said Aizen, very non-chalantly, as if trying to hide that he had no idea whom he was referring to.

"...Alright, now, don't get so cocky that you forget who's really supposed to be 'the king' here," said Ichigo, out loud. "We're gonna switch places for a little bit, but you'd better not get used to this freedom I'm allowing you..."

He closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, then arched his head straight back, slinging it over his own shoulders. He remained silent and motionless, and a few moments later, a white substance began to appear hovering just above his forehead. It collected more white substance unto itself out of thin air, as it slowly grew in size. Then, he made a low, heaving sound from deep within his throat that rattled like the chains of Hell, as he whipped his head back to front-and-center, peering directly at Aizen. His irises glowed a bright yellow hue and the whites of his eyes sank into an enveloping blackness as it swallowed them whole. He grinned a mad grin, wider than any he was normally capable of, as the strange white substance continued to formulate and take shape around his head and face.

"I'm finally back!" he pronounced, his voice much higher-pitched than before. "I finally get to breath some air, again!"

Orihime gasped as her eyes bulged down at him from the balcony above, along with the others, all of them reacting the same way.

"Ichigo! You finally acknowledge who's the strongest! _But, you're wrong about one thing—you're never coming back! I can guarantee you that!!" _said Ichigo, maniacally cackling, practically howling like a wolf to the full moon...

(...to be continued in Chapter 22...)

A/N: I should have been encouraging this all along, but let me know what you all think. Please, write some reviews, or comments!


	22. Party on the Moon

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 22: "Party on the Moon"**

**A/N #1: This chapter's title comes from a bizarre dream I had recently about a part of the moon's surface, which was the ground of my neighbor's backyard, and I attended a party they were throwing on it. Strange, I know! LOL… I think I have to blame reading the Trinity Blood novels for this with all the references to the two moons. The books are now being published in English, so I highly recommend reading them. Very entertaining stuff! **

**Now, on with the chapter…**

"There's something about the air here that makes me feel…_so raw!"_ observed Ichigo's inner hollow aloud, maniacally and plenty loud enough for everyone in the large chapel to hear him well. He cackled like a comic book villain as more and more of the white mask with maroon stripes formed over his face, until it was completely covered.

"_Hmm_…I have a bad feeling about this," mused Renji, nervously from the balcony. "Why would he say anything about the air here?"

"Kurosaki's inner hollow has never been to Hueco Mundo before," reasoned Uryuu, still keeping his watchful eyes on Ichigo's terrific transformation below. "The air here is probably more suitable to all hollows compared to the world of the living and Soul Society. It may have served the purpose of making Kurosaki stronger when fighting as himself, but as he is now, being here is only going to make his ability to subdue his hollow that much more difficult…"

The rest of the crew on the balcony all gasped a little under their breath at this statement, except Gin. His expression had been his usual wicked grin and closed eyes as he continued to hold Orihime's back to his chest with one arm wrapped around her waist.

"—_Shuuhei!"_ yelled a woman coming from outside the entrance to the chapel, several yards away. Suddenly, Matsumoto Rangiku appeared, darting to Shuuhei's side as he stood near Chad by the entrance.

"Rangiku-sa—Rangiku…" said Shuuhei, correcting himself before he could complete her name. He grinned in a geeky, school-boyish way at her, as she jovially leapt to his side and grabbed his sleeveless, muscular right arm. She laced it through hers and, pushing herself up on her tip-toes, planted a gentle, quick peck on his lips.

"_Oh…?"_ said Gin from high upon the balcony, half muffled by surprise and realization dawning on him at the same time. Nothing could wipe the smile off his face quite like seeing Rangiku with another man. _"Hmm…"_

"You're gonna have to watch it, Kurosaki," warned Shinji to the altered body of Ichigo, who was cranking his neck too far over to his left side. It was a miracle it didn't snap in half. "That hollow of yours means business."

"_Ichigo's not home right now, Dutch Boy, so you should shut-up and watch me catch my prey…!" _he shouted at Shinji, although he looked directly at Aizen as he said it, practically licking his lips. His yellow eyes looked more and more deranged with each passing second as they peered at Aizen through the slits of his boney mask.

"_AAAAAAAaaaahhhhhhhh!!"_ He began howling like a wild animal, and suddenly…

_POP! _

A gaping hole opened up in the center of his chest, exactly where his heart was, making an exploding echo that resounded throughout the entire chapel. Shinji gasped as his own eyes widened, having seen this exact thing happen to Ichigo before. The balcony group drew in quick breaths as well, murmuring amongst themselves about what was happening to him.

"_Dammit! The hollow-transformation is going too far. He's losing control," _cursed Shinji to himself, as he stood not far from him. He knew all too well he didn't have the resources nor the man-power to bind Ichigo down very well when he was like this.

"Kurosaki-kun!" said Orihime, her concern beginning to mount, as it showed on her worried face. Her eyes then began to widen even more as she witnessed the proceeding events unfold before her. Ichigo's shoulders and arms began to form a white, muscular substance all over them, as it enveloped them completely, even down to his newly-formed razor-sharp finger tips. His back was covered by the same substance, and a pointy long tail began to grow out from just above his rear. He morphed from howling to plain hissing loudly like a rabid raccoon.

"Hmm…He's really getting hollowized. He can't even speak anymore," observed Stark, as he stood near Aizen, scratching his head. _"I was never like that, was I?"_ he asked himself rhetorically. "Old man, you don't have your sword with you. You're gonna need me to go get it for you, right?"

"No, Stark," said Aizen, firmly and levelly, "I won't be needing it. I am quite certain I can fight this beast without it…"

"_Wha—?"_ he nearly spat out a knee-jerk response, but stopped when something dawned on him that should have been more obvious before.

And, then Hollow Ichigo suddenly shot himself off the ground with so much speed and force, Stark reflexively blocked his Zangetsu with his steel-skinned arm before he could slice Aizen in half. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed his own skin cracking a little like the blade of a sword at the meeting point with Zangetsu's blade.

"I'm sorry, Old Man, I just reacted," he said, apologetically, as he stood with his back right in front of him. "I'll get outta your way now."

"I thank you for your help, Stark," said Aizen, as Hollow Ichigo landed on the ground near where he was before, after being thrown back into the air by Stark's block. "I will be doing things myself from here on out…"

"Yes sir…" said Stark, bowing to him, and then walking away as he held the wound on his left arm.

"_Kurosaki-kun!"_ shouted Orihime from the balcony, her mouth agape with disbelief. She started squirming and wriggling around whilst being constrained by Gin. The rest of her friends were all just as shocked, but proved better at hiding it. The hollow continually hissed and wailed, intermittently, the sound resembling an enraged wild animal engaged in combat.

He charged at Aizen again, much in the same manner he had before, but this time, Aizen met him with a perfectly timed attack of his own—

"—Hadou Sixty-Three: Raikouhou…" chanted Aizen, as an instantaneous, large white ball of light appeared before the palm of his hand and shot out with the speed of lightning, blasting Hollow Ichigo's right arm completely off. The dismembered arm was sent flying several feet into the air until it landed on the floor, covered in blood. Ichigo's zanpakuto stabbed itself into the ground, tip first, after whipping around in the air several times.

"_Oh no!"_ gasped Orihime, covering her mouth with both hands.

"_No way!"_ shouted Renji, "Did he just do that kidou spell with one hand? That guy is really scary…" He gritted his teeth as he peered down at Aizen from above.

But, just as quickly as Aizen blew off the hollow's arm, a white substance began growing out of the socket of his missing one with such speed, it nearly shot out as it reformed itself into the exact same shape and size as the original arm. Everyone gasped! Aizen closed his eyes and lowered his gaze, softly giggling to himself.

"Amazing," he admitted from across the room, "High-speed regeneration. Only the most powerful hollows even have such an ability. Your kind are _very_ rare, even in Hueco Mundo…"

The crazed hollow hissed at him as he stretched out his right arm and wriggled his claws, getting the feel for his new limb. Only a short breath later, his sharp claws dug into the center of Aizen's chest. Before anyone knew what had happened, the hollow pulled his claw out of Aizen's chest cavity, scratching the rest of it through every bloody layer of robes and skin, hissing all the while. Once everyone else caught up with the dizzying events, they were all, at the very least, astonished. Aizen merely gnarled his eyebrows together over the bridge of his nose at his opponent.

"Wha—what just happened?" asked Rukia, still engulfed in shock.

"I've never seen Captain Aizen get cut before," said Renji, pretending that the shock had no affect on him.

"Neither have I…" said Gin, cooly, yet without the usual grin. Even Aizen's former captain couldn't contain his amazement from his position near the battle. Shinji gaped to see a sight he believed he would never witness.

Aizen blew Hollow Ichigo back away from him with another quick kidou spell, but it only had the effect of distancing the two from each other. He only wanted some breathing room at that moment, as he surveyed the crimson blood that stained his torn white robes just over his nearly punctured heart.

"Well done, Hollow of Kurosaki Ichigo," he stated, composed, despite his massive injury. "You've landed a hit when doing such a thing has been so rare for me ever since I can remember…"

Orihime continued wriggling and writhing around beneath Gin's arm until she finally broke free and dashed the few feet of distance it was to the balcony's ledge. As she was about to place her hands on top of it, she suddenly felt weakened. "_Kurosaki-kun…!"_

"…But, that ends now—!" continued Aizen to the hollowized form of Kurosaki. Aizen jutted his right arm up in the air, as if pointing out something far above Ichigo's head.

"_Way of Destruction, Number Ninety-Five: White Lights, Eternal Prison…!"_ he chanted firmly, almost shouting. Then, far above Hollow Ichigo's head appeared a cage made up of several white lighted rods. As soon as Orihime saw it at her eye-level, she froze with fear.

"No—" she yelped under her breath, recalling a similar terrifying scene once before with the same spell. The lighted cage quickly descended onto Ichigo, until it had him completely surrounded on the ground, locking him in. _"No…"_

"_...NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" _

She screamed at the top of her lungs as the shriek tore through the thickly layered reiatsu-filled air like an atomic explosion. In that moment, she collapsed, losing consciousness as the inertia from running to the ledge carried her until she folded over it, hurdling over the balcony's edge.

Her shrill cry pierced into the very depths of Aizen's ears. His eyes instantly flitted over to see her body falling, as if in slow motion, from the third story balcony. A heartbeat later, he stood beneath her free-falling form, a split second before she was to hit the ground, catching her in his arms. Her body and limbs draped over his sturdy frame and arms like a ragdoll, as the strands of her long red hair fluttered through the air.

"_He—he caught her?" _stammered just about everyone simultaneously in the entire chapel. All were aghast and out of breath. But, the rescue crew from the balcony, never missing a beat, immediately leapt down from the ledge, feet first and weapons blazing for the top of Aizen's head. He peeked upwards to see them all about to descend upon him. Then, while still cradling his bride-to-be, he shot them all an evil glare and instantly vanished from everyone's sight without a trace…

(…to be continued in Chapter 23…)

**A/N #2: …Until then, write me some reviews! Tell me what you think!**


	23. Taming the Shrewd

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 23: "Taming the Shrewd" **

"Where'd he go?" asked Renji, sternly, scanning around the chapel where he stood as if he had laser vision. He and the other rescuers had all landed on the ground where Aizen caught Orihime only moments earlier. At this point, they were peering around the vast hall trying to figure out where he had disappeared to.

"He thinks he can just leave?" said Uryuu, holding his spirit bow in such as way as to quickly disengage it. "Wasn't this ceremony meant to be his wedding to Inoue-san? Why would he just disappear like that?"

"Where did he take Inoue?" said Renji, his irritation growing by the second. "We were _this_ close to rescuing her, and now she's gone again!"

"—Most likely, Aizen-taichou took her to sick-bay, or somewhere like that," interjected Gin, still standing up on the balcony, glancing down on everyone below. "Orihime-chan was unconscious when she fell, so he wanted to take care of her right away…"

"Why was she unconscious?" asked Renji, looking annoyed as he peered up at Gin. "I didn't see you do anything to her! Did you?"

"Don't be a fool, Abarai-kun," retorted Gin, grinning widely. "I did nothing to her. She collapsed under the enormous pressure of all the reiatsu released by Aizen and that orange-haired friend of yours over there. Once she broke away from my hold on her, she no longer had a shield protecting her from its crushing weight. That was how she was able to fall from the balcony."

"_Inoue…"_ mused Rukia to herself, as she held her chin and stared down at the ground. Silently she was very relieved that Aizen caught her before she could reach the ground, since no one else concerned about her could have moved fast enough to save her in time…

"_BLAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHHHH!!!" _

Everyone gasped as their eyes bolted to see the hollowized form of Ichigo writhing around in his light cage, as his long orange hair whipped around like the main of a wild stallion. It was clear to see that the bars were beginning to dissipate into the air around him, leaving him completely unscathed.

"Aizen's spell is wearing off!" shouted Uryuu, with a mixture of happiness and fear. "He never got a chance to finish it!"

"_Hisagi-san!"_ shouted Renji over to Shuuhei.

"I'm on it," he said, nodding back at him. He put the palms of his hands together, then stretched out his right hand directly at Hollow Ichigo, who was now completely free of the kidou cage and looking around at whom to pounce on next.

"_Bakudou Number Sixty-Three: Sajou Sabaku!" _shouted Shuuhei, as a large, thick white cord suddenly wrapped itself around Hollow Ichigo's arms and mid-section, forcing him to fall to the ground. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're so good at that, Shuuhei!" piped Rangiku as she leapt to his side, grabbing his arm as if he were the day's hero. He cracked a brief grin at her from the side of his eye, when suddenly a loud rip tore through the air…

"He—he… No way!" said Shuuhei, in complete shock as he witnessed the cords of his kidou spell torn to shreds by the ravenous hollow.

"How did he do that to a Level-Sixty binding spell?" asked Rukia, eyes bugging out of her head.

"He really is some kind of demon!" said Shuuhei, so surprised, he nearly forgot to try another spell on him.

"—_A mask of flesh and blood, all forms the fluttering of wings, he who is crowned in man's name, carriage of thunder, bridge of spinning wheels, with light, divide this in six, Bakudou Number Sixty-One: __Rokujyoukourou__!"_ shouted Rukia. She could see the need for even her weaker kidou at the moment.

Six white bars suddenly formed around Hollow Ichigo, then clamped together around his waist to hold him temporarily paralyzed. She made eye contact with his glowing yellow eyes for an instant, eyes surrounded by a dreadful blackness where they should have been white. Consequently, she felt her heart drop into her stomach from the shock of seeing her dear friend so lost within the soul of such a deadly monster.

"_Don't lose this one, Ichigo…"_ she whispered under her breath.

"—If you can do it, you'll probably have to use Bakudou Ninety-Nine just to keep him in one place for a little while," chimed in Shinji to Shuuhei. Everyone glanced over at him as his calm demeanor noticeably contrasted with everyone else's panic.

"I—I haven't really mastered something that advanced yet!" stammered Shuuhei very hurriedly, as the worry in his eyes made them grow into two large saucers…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Orihime sighed lightly just before opening her eyes, adjusting their focus on the images around her. She could gather from the view of the high-vaulted ceiling straight ahead that she was laying on her back, and she was laying on something very comfortable. In fact, the comfort exceeded anything she'd ever experienced before and it automatically put her at ease, even though she had no idea where she was.

"You're awake," said a voice, very smoothly and calmly, like velvet. She blinked upon hearing it and turned her head in the direction of the voice as her blurry vision began to clear. A soft and fuzzy image of Aizen sitting, facing her at her bedside, came into near focus. She then realized _she_ was on the bed, and her head was resting on top of a large, comfortable pillow. She moved her torso slightly and noticed she was hampered by some pure white bed linens draped over her. They felt smooth and silky to her arms and hands beneath the covers.

She looked down at her chest and saw that her wedding gown was splattered with a small amount of blood over her breasts, but she was too woozy to worry about it. Her gloves had been removed to reveal her bare arms, and when she wiggled her toes, she could feel that her feet were bare, as well.

"Wh—Where am I?" she asked groggily, as she rubbed her eyes. She was confused, but relaxed in a way that made her more curious than anything else.

"This is my bed chamber," replied Aizen, with a slight grin as he looked at her sleepy face.

"How did I end up here?" she asked further, trying to sit up.

"Well, naturally, I brought you here," he said very casually. "You fell off the balcony in the chapel and I caught you. You are unharmed, aren't you?"

"Uh…" she stammered, twirling her eyes as she quickly assessed her own physical condition. "Uh—yes. I think I'm fine…"

"That makes me happy to hear that," he said jovially, tilting his head with a big grin as he shut his eyes.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she said as concern began to rise within her voice. She remembered that the last time she saw him, he was in Aizen's deadly kidou cage. "He—"

"He's still a whole hollow, if that's what you're wondering," said Aizen, reading her very obvious train-of-thought. "I never harmed him. I had you to rescue instead, Orihime…"

As she sat up, a certain uneasy realization began to dawn on her that she was most likely lying in Aizen's bed, the very bed he regularly slept in.

"No way! Is this your bed?!" she shouted, nervously moving around as if she were trying to find an escape hatch. "Was I sleeping in_ your_ bed?! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't sleeping in your bed! I need to…"

"_Orihime,"_ said Aizen, standing from the chair he was sitting on to calm her down, giving her a funny glance as if to say she was being completely ridiculous. "Don't be silly. I put you in my bed myself. You're not being rude—I'm simply trying to nurse you back to health. You've been resting for about an hour now…"

In that instant when he stood, she could see that his white robes were slashed and stained with crimson blood all over his chest. She peered a little closer at the skin behind the open tears of his garments and gasped as she realized he had a large open gash in his upper rib cage.

"Aizen-san—you—you're wounded!" she said, about as shocked as everyone else was to see the strange reality.

"Hmm?" he said at her, as if he had forgotten all about it. He sat back down on his chair.

"_I need to heal you! Just sit still!"_ she urged, lunging at him very suddenly from across the bed.

"Huh?" Aizen muttered, very bewildered. He grabbed her hands as she threw them at him and gently placed them back down on the billowy mattress. "Oh, this? You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine, Orihime. Don't move around so much—you're not a hundred percent just yet."

"But…" she trailed off, staring into his mostly carefree golden eyes that showed a hint of concern only for her. _"No, let me heal you Aizen-san! You're badly injured! Please!"_

Aizen's grin dropped as his eyes widened at her boldness. She appeared very serious and impatient while, once again, lunging at him. She grabbed his torn robes and pulled them open to reveal his bare chest and the ghastly hole still drizzling blood down his abdomen. She gasped furiously again as was her reflex to do so when seeing an injury that would usually be grave for any normal human being. Aizen's eyes continued to register his astonishment as he sat there, motionless, allowing her to do whatever she was inclined to do to him. She further slid his robes off his broad, square shoulders and pulled the garments down behind his back.

"Shuno, Ayame…" she called out, without adding anything further to her command. Aizen narrowed his gaze upon her as he showed his realization of the growth of her powers and her great ease of control over them. The two fairies flew out of her right flower hairpin, stopping in mid-air about three feet apart and perfectly lined up and parallel to the ground. A yellow dome-shaped shield grew between them as it hovered just above Aizen's chest.

"Well, if you insist…" he nodded, sitting back and relaxing in his chair, placing his arms atop the armrests. He tossed his head back as his wavy grown-out hair flew away from his face momentarily. Of course, it fell right back to its usual position around his head. As determined as Orihime had become, she couldn't help but remark to herself in her own thoughts how different Aizen seemed at that moment. He was genuinely relaxed in the same way someone might be if they were lounging on a sunny, sandy beach in Hawaii. It was as if all the thoughts in his head had dissipated as he gazed upwards at the ceiling with his eyes shut.

"_Mmm…"_ he hummed as the healing shield whirred. His wound immediately began to show signs of closing up. "I never even imaged for one second I would be under your healing shield, Orihime. This is a _very_ relaxing experience…" Turning his head, he slowly opened his eyes to reveal a most smoldering gaze upon her.

"S—Same here," she said, blushing ever so slightly beneath that gaze. She nearly chuckled from her sudden discomfiture. "You'll be back to normal again soon."

"Take your time...I trust you completely," he said deeply, capping off his seductive glare with a grin and a small sigh. He threw his head back again, closing his eyes to the ceiling, as if he were basking his glistening body in the perfect warmth of the bright yellow sun itself…

(…to be continued in Chapter 24…)

**A/N:** Write me some reviews! And, thank you to those who've written reviews so far. I eagerly await hearing more from you all…


	24. Tender Is The Morning

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 24: "Tender Is The Morning"**

Orihime's healing shield whirred a soft tune as she stood in front of it, holding her hands up near it, continuing to heal Aizen's chest wound. She glanced over at him reclining in his large, comfy chair, and noticed he seemed sound asleep. The soft yellow glow from the shield lit up his handsome face, which looked relaxed and almost sweet, so she thought. She surprised herself with making such an observation, enough to quietly move herself closer to inspect it.

After nearly one full hour of healing him, the wound was nearly closed up, but proved difficult to reject quickly, for the reiatsu embedded in it was very strong. This made her a bit nervous for she couldn't help but feel like she didn't want to disappoint him. She decided not to think too deeply about why Aizen's opinion mattered to her so much, but she couldn't help but to take the opportunity to zoom in on his luminescent face while he was fast asleep. Her curiosity over possibly discovering something new about a man so mysterious simply got the better of her, and he was, after all, completely vulnerable and human-like at that exact moment.

She blinked at his features for they seemed perfectly symmetrical and his skin was clear and smooth-looking. She was only about six inches from his face as her eyes danced over his hairline and the bridge of his nose, which had a very slight bump on it before it curved upwards at the tip. His eyelashes were dark brown and long and his eyebrows were thin and shapely. She scanned down to his lips, as they plumped out into a wide, mild grin. A soft sigh escaped them as they parted slightly, startling her, but only enough to make her freeze still. After he finished exhaling, she drew in a quiet deep breath of her own. He looked truly peaceful, a great irony for a man so in love with war…

"How long are you going stare at me while I nap, Orihime?" he suddenly asked, his lips moving as the rest of his face remained exactly as it was before. Gasping and jumping, she nearly leapt out of her skin! She wondered if he could see through his own eyelids. He then slowly opened his demure eyes and flashed them at her, as if he were very flattered that she wanted to see him up close so intimately all of her own free will.

"Thank you for healing me. It's so relaxing that I feel asleep. You put me at ease, Orihime…"

"Uh… I'm not finished, yet! It's… sort of hard, because…"

"—I understand—don't worry about it," he said, raising his hand and placing it behind the back of her head, drawing her closer to him. She nearly began to cry. "I don't expect you to be perfect. I know you're doing the very best you can, and that's all that matters to me…"

"_I don't know what else to do,"_ she whimpered, painfully, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"You don't need to do anymore than what you've already done. I'll have the nurses in the infirmary take care of the rest of it."

As she rubbed her eyes and sobbed, the two fairies flew back to form the four missing petals of her hairpin, causing the shield to disappear. Aizen pulled her by the arms onto his lap, wrapping his own arms around her, clutching her to his bare chest and nuzzling the top of her head with his mouth.

"_There, there… It's alright, my princess…"_ he said, warmly. "At least it's not bleeding anymore, and the blood is all gone. It's very nice work and I'm proud of it..."

She began to settle down at these words and allowed herself to be soothed by his calming influence. It made her realize that she hadn't been treated so lovingly since her brother died. It came from an unlikely source, but it came nevertheless, and with one hand, she grabbed onto the part of his kimono that was still tucked into his hakama at his waist. Closing her eyes and burying the side of her head into his collarbone, she cried a new stream of tears while hiding her face from Aizen's view above her. He acted like he didn't notice.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent from the top of her head as he laced her long, silky hair through his fingers. After a few minutes in a sort of blissful state, Orihime wiped the tears from her eyes and face, sniffling like an emotional child trying to stop her crying. She actually felt safe with Aizen, which made her realize she never really knew anything about him. Most of what she knew about him was from what she heard from her friends. Although, she trusted what they said, she also began to realize that they may have only seen just the worst of his qualities. All of this good coming from him seemed genuine to her.

"Aizen-san," she whispered from a deep place in her throat, "why are you treating me like this?"

"Why?" he repeated, incredulous. "Again, you do and say things I cannot predict. But, to answer your very blunt question, I think it's because you have an interesting effect on me, Orihime. I find myself wanting to make you happy, almost as if that's all I really want to do anymore. It's strange to me, very strange, indeed…"

Orihime's eyes widened when she heard this. As hard as it was to believe, he seemed honest. There wasn't the slightest tone, or aura of deceit in any of his words, nor in the way he expressed them. The little laugh he made in the middle of the declaration made it seem all the more valid—the laugh of one pleasantly surprised.

"If you really want to make me happy, then will you do something for me?" She suddenly went solid, pulling her head away from his chest a little while still looking down at her lap. She sat there motionless for what felt like an hour. Aizen remained silent for a few moments.

"_I would do anything for you, Orihime. Just tell me what you want from me…" _

Her eyes widened again. She lifted her head slightly.

"Please leave the people of my hometown alone…" She spoke resolutely, turning her head to peer at him from the side of her eye. Some part of her knew this would have to be the point where he would not budge on catering to her will.

"…If that is what you wish, then you have my word… I will henceforth cease any and all plans to attack, or harm the people of Karakura town and all those who live there."

Her eyes bulged—her mouth reflexively flew open! He bore his eyes into hers like a drill, as he sat in his chair with her on his lap, not flinching even the smallest muscle in his body. He exuded a completely deadly serious vibe, and it shocked Orihime to the core.

"Y—you will?" she stuttered while all matter seemed to move in slow motion. "But—" She cut herself off when she realized she shouldn't probe into how he was so willing and able to drop a goal he held for so long, so easily. As unbelievable as it seemed, there was a part of her that didn't want to know how. She was so pleased to have heard his words so far, she didn't want to spoil the joy.

"Thank you, Aizen-san," she said, cracking a grin at him as her hands floated in front of her like they didn't know what to do.

"The fact that you are smiling at me for the _very_ first time is reason enough for me to change my plans…" he said, grinning back at her with not only his lips, but his large eyes as well. "Can I tell you something, my dear?"

"Y—yes…"

"I will gladly cease my plans to destroy Karakura town, but you have to know that I cannot promise you this if you were to ever leave me."

Orihime blinked, wondering what direction he was taking this line of reasoning. It felt like she was starting to hear the version of Aizen she knew from the reports of her nakama and allies.

"I want to make you happy, but it's not exactly fair to me if you're the only one happy. You see, I want to give you the option to stay or go—to marry me, or not—but if you choose to go back home, now that I promise to leave it alone… What I'm saying is that your hometown is really only safe if you choose to stay here with me for good. I cannot guarantee it's safety if you choose to go back and live there…"

She narrowed her eyes and glanced back down at her lap again, pulling the expression of someone newly acquainted with some harsh reality.

"Our wedding will have to be soon, but it will be all to your liking," he continued. "It will be quiet and unassuming, no pomp and circumstance this time around. You will decide how the ceremony proceeds. We'll make sure to not declare it to anyone other than those closest to us, so as to keep your nakama from discovering it and charging to your rescue again. They will be safe, as they will not put themselves into a dangerous situation for your sake again…"

Orihime lifted her face to meet his eyes as she intensely glared into them. She inhaled deeply and quickly blew out the air from her mouth. Tightening her fists, she widened her lips to speak…

(…To be continued in Chapter 25…)

**A/N: **Don't forget to leave your really cool reviews of this chapter!!


	25. A Harder Shade of Blue

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 25: "A Harder Shade of Blue"**

Orihime peered out at the crescent moon through the barred window of her private chamber, clasping her hands over her heart. She redirected her eyes down to her hands, opening them to reveal a small piece of bone fragment laying in the palm of her hand. She gazed at it with a mixed look of longing and determination. A moment later, she knelt down and placed the fragment on the concrete floor…

"Shuno, Ayame…"

..............................................

Several hours later, she continued kneeling on the ground, next to her healing shield. Inside it looked like the reversal of a human evaporating into nothing. White skin, dagger-like black nails, and long blue hair all made up the image of someone once gone, but not forgotten. He lay on his back with his eyes closed and claws twitching, as he began to wake from unconsciousness.

"Orihime?" he said, raspy, nearly inaudible and confused.

"Grimmjow," she replied, softening her eyes while giving him a goofy grin.

"This shield…" his eyes popped open. "Your healing shield. I'm alive because of you?"

She didn't verbally respond, but her half confused, half happy expression revealed that she wasn't sure whether he was pleased, or not. She glanced away from his face.

"Umm...Thanks," he said to his own chagrin. She whipped her head back to peer into his blue eyes. She smiled slightly to realize his words seemed honest enough. "Hey, I had no intention of being killed by that guy."

He winced as he tried to prop himself up onto his elbows and hands.

"Don't move! You're not all healed yet!" she shouted.

"No, I think I am. You can release me now." She reluctantly recalled her fairies back to her hairpins, wishing she could heal much more than what Aizen had done to him during their fight. "Seriously, woman, you're not going to make me into a saint, got it?"

Orihime puffed out her lower lip and turned her head away a bit frustrated at him. But, it passed a second later. Grimmjow, still in his Pantera form, sealed himself back to his normal appearance. His zanpakuto suddenly appeared in his right hand.

"How long was I gone?" he asked, scratching his head as his tousled hair flopped around.

"Uh…almost a week," she said, softly.

"That's it, huh? I was afraid there for a second that it had been a lot longer, because that could have meant some big changes might have happened in that time…"

She peered down at the floor again, narrowing her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning to look at her as he stood up on his feet. "Hey, stand up, will you…" He reached down to grab her arm, lifting her off the ground as though she were a plush toy. Immediately, he pulled her into his bare chest and placed his hands on her lower back, as if he'd only just been with her an hour earlier. Shocked, she pushed him away.

Grimmjow furrowed his eyebrows at her as the wheels of suspicion turned in his mind. "Tell me what's up," he echoed.

"Well…" she started, begrudgingly, almost like a guilty kid caught with her hands in the cookie jar, "Well, some things _have_ changed…"

"Like what?" he asked, roughly as he talked to her back.

She squirmed around, looking every other direction but at him, stammering to confess, but her words were too inarticulate to be understood.

"Orihime, what are you getting at? You couldn't mean what I think you mean… No way."

She nodded at him, her eyes pained with fear of his reaction.

"_That can't be! You married Aizen already!"_ he shouted, practically jumping in place with split-second reaction time.

"_No! It hasn't happened, yet!"_ she yelled back, weakly and still pained.

"But, it will?"

"Y—yes…" she stuttered as she nodded slightly at him.

"_That's it! This time, I'm really gonna let him have it!" _He began stomping over to her door.

"_Wait! No, Grimmjow! You don't understand!"_

"What don't I understand?" he asked sternly as he turned back to her.

"I…I…Uh…" She stammered, beads of perspiration breaking out all over her face. "I agreed to marry Aizen-san!"

"What?"

"I chose to..."

"_What the hell?!" _ he yelled, baffled. "Woman, have you completely lost your mind? He must have said something to you, didn't he?"

Again, Orihime peered down at the ground, clasping her hands together behind her back.

"_He is so dead this time…" _he stated, gritting his teeth. He resumed his storming to the door until he was all the way out, as Orihime trailed him, running as fast as she could, screaming after him.

"Where is he?" he growled through his gritted teeth. He found himself in a huge, empty hall, sparsely lit, with the typical vaulted ceiling of Las Noches. He slowed his pace until he came to a complete stop, Orihime winded as she tried to keep up with him.

"I know you're there! There's no mistaking the stench of your reiatsu, so come out already!"

"Glad to know your sense of smell is still functioning well…Grimmjow…" said Aizen, as he stepped out from behind a very wide pillar in the hall. "How wonderful it is to see you again, my dear friend…"

Grimmjow spat emphatically on the floor, as if the reflective concrete under his boots had been Aizen's face. He tugged on the hilt of his sword hanging off of his left hip, smirking with a crooked grin.

"_This time..."_ he said lowly with great definitive articulation, _"will be different..." _His smirk grew wider as his eyes intensified, their color enhancing to a higher shade of brilliance. He started moving toward Aizen with each elongated step very purposeful and confident.

"Wait, Grimmjow!" screamed Orihime, suddenly appearing right in front him as she wedged herself between him and Aizen, her hands out to her sides to make her blockade seem wider. Grimmjow stopped and blinked at her, bewildered.

"What are you doing, woman?," he barked, as his incisors began to resemble fangs more than regular human teeth. _"Why are you trying to protect this guy?!"_

"Isn't it obvious, Grimmjow," said Aizen, narrowing his own ultra confident laser-sharp eyes at his. "Orihime is on my side now..."

"Bastard! You brainwashed her! That's cheating, and you know it!"

"Of course I know that would be unfair, but I've done nothing of the sort to her," said Aizen, his hands resting loosely in his outer jacket pockets. "She is perfectly sound in her mind. She is acting of her own accord."

"Grimmjow, please," begged Orihime, with tearful eyes, "don't do it. Don't attack Aizen-san!"

"You've got to be kidding me...Ha-ha-ha!" he cackled, throwing his head back as his mouth gaped wide open. He continued a sonorous laughing fit until his stomach became sore. Orihime peered down at the ground, frowning while hiding her eyes from him.

"Why are defending him?"

"I don't want you to get hurt!" she yelled, using her might to convince him. "I had to work very hard to bring you back, and I don't want you to throw your life away, again. Please, Grimmjow...Just don't confront Aizen-san so you can stay safe and live on..."

Grimmjow's smile shrank into a serious glower as the luminescence of his eyes began to dull.

"You should listen to her, Grimmjow," said Aizen, "Orihime brought you back out of the goodness and purity of her heart. Besides, I've already killed you once—I have no desire to do it, again." Orihime turned quickly to look at him behind her.

"You mean, you're not angry at me for bringing him back?" she asked, her round eyes shocked and full of concern.

"Of course not, my dear," he said, fixing a soft, approving gaze upon her, "If you want Grimmjow alive again, then that's what I want, too."

Grimmjow started laughing out loud again. He found a nice view of the vaulted ceiling in the large hall above his cackling head. "Now I know this has to be an act..."

"It's no act. I have no need to be insincere with Orihime. She has taken to me all on her own. It is you who cannot accept that fact, so you jest in order to obscure it. But, you already know that your jeering will do nothing to change what you see so clearly before your very own eyes, Grimmjow..."

Grimmjow sneered at him, gritting his teeth. He peered down at Orihime, who was still standing in front of him, shivering from fear of his threatened explosive tendency. His brows narrowed at her as his mounting anger became evident.

"If you leave Las Noches now, I will not allow anyone to harm you," reassured Aizen from behind Orihime. "Simply never return here again, and everything will be fine." Grimmjow glanced at Orihime one more time, as the expression in her face told him that she wanted him to comply with Aizen's suggestion. He shoved his fists into his roomy pants pockets and turned away from them, scuffing the floor with a small kick.

"Muh...Whatever, man. You two are jacked in the head..." With that, he strutted away at a slow pace, each step ringing out in each distant corner of the hall.

"_Grimmjow!"_

He stopped and turned his head slightly in the direction behind him, cocking his ear toward the call without looking back. "Thank you..." said a sweet, small voice, full of grace. He turned his head away, bowing it to the ground, as his eyes slowly closed shut...

(...Continued in Chapter 26...)


	26. Love Princess

**A/N:** Thanks so much for your reviews and comments. I really appreciate it and always do! Now, I'll be trying to finish up this fic a bit faster, so we'll see how that goes...

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 26: "Love Princess"**

"Oh my!" bellowed Gin, as he traipsed around Aizen's spacious private chamber in his frilly clothes, rubbing the hair on the back of his neck. "Have I heard correctly, Aizen-taichou? Did you really allow Orihime-chan to reject Grimmjow's death when you went through all that trouble to kill him that one time?"

"Why, yes I did, Gin," replied Aizen matter-of-factly, moving his head away from the hand he was leaning his face against. "I figured she went through far more trouble to bring him back than I went through to kill him. It was only fair, don't you think?"

"I'm just surprised it doesn't bother you that she wanted to bring him back. I would be wondering if her feelings for him are still intact."

Aizen lightly giggled as he lounged in his favorite industrial moderne-style chair, which didn't appear to be particularly comfortable. "I doubt that..."

"I know Aizen-taichou rarely allows anything to threaten him," said Gin, grinny as always, but more so now since he was enjoying their particular conversation, "but, he seems different somehow... _You_ aren't getting soft on us, are you? Is Orihime-chan really changing you that much?"

"Hmm..." hummed Aizen for a long moment, narrowing his eyes at the wall on the other side of the room. "...While I admit I love Orihime, and would do almost anything to make her happy—I wouldn't necessarily say I'm getting soft..."

"—_This looks really good, Aizen-sama!"_ exclaimed the small young nurse, kneeling in front of Aizen, with great enthusiasum. He was sweet-natured and resembled a young girl more than his own gender. His high-pitched, cheery voice did plenty to add to that effect. "Your chest wound is almost all healed. Give it another week, and I'm sure it'll be completely gone!"

"Thank you very much, uh..." Aizen stalled out, his eyebrows flicking higher up on his forehead while peering at the petit, frail young man. "...I'm afraid I have trouble telling you apart from your identical twin. Do you mind telling me your name again?"

"Not at all, Sir!" said the boy, his large eyes wide with excitement. "My name is Benito! My nii-san is Ignacio. Ha-ha! I guess we only really have one feature not in common and that would be our height. Nii-san is point-two-five centimeters taller than me! Hee-hee..."

Aizen chuckled lightly under his breath, acting as if he were committing the information to memory. Gin walked over to a nearby wall and propped himself up against it, looking on with his usual tickled grin. Benito cleaned off the chest wound with some sterilizer and cotton, dexterously flicking his rubber-gloved hands around like an old pro. "I recommend leaving this open to oxygen from now on, Aizen-sama, if that is alright with you, that is! It will heal faster and more completely like that from now on."

"Yes, of course, please leave it unbandaged. I trust your expertise," said Aizen, softly. Benito beamed from ear to masked ear. He relished in Aizen's approval as he dabbed Aizen's chest with a dry cloth. Aizen leaned his weight onto his right hand again, as it smashed up against the side of his face, still sitting in the large uncomfortable-looking chair. Benito began to pack up his utensils and then walked over to stand before him.

"I shall take my leave, Aizen-sama," he said, bowing his head, the perfect picture of meekness. "Please contact me for any further problems with your wound if you should have them, Sir..."

"Hmm..." he mused at the young lad, as the boy lifted his startled head, "It's about time you became Orihime's nurse, isn't it?"

"Orihime-sama's nurse?" asked the little man, blinking at him for sheer confusion. "Is there something wrong with Her Future Ladyship? She hasn't become ill, has she?"

"Well, since all my Espadas already know, and have for a while now..." Aizen closed his eyes as he trailed off. Gin's smile grew even wider from the other side of the room. "...Orihime is carrying my child..."

Benito's already big round eyes bugged out, making them seem inhumanly large. He gulped and shook his head a little. "Wow! That's wonderful news, Aizen-sama! Congratulations! She surely will need a nurse, bu...but...uh...Doesn't she already have one by now?"

"That's a good question, Benito," started Aizen, swiveling his chair to the side. "No, she does not have one already. You see, my little friend, she does not know she's pregnant..."

"Huh? How could she not know that?" asked the boy, as beads of sweat broke out all over his round face. "And, how is it that _you_ know and she doesn't...I...don't understand..."

"That's alright," interjected Gin from his wall, "When you get to know Aizen-taichou a little better, you'll find that he has ways of knowing the most intimate details about someone before they ever become aware of them."

Benito jerked his head to glance back at Gin, then quickly back at Aizen again.

"There's a perfectly good explanation for all of this, Benito," said Aizen, peering at him from the corner of his glinting eye.

"Oh, ab—absolutely there must be, Sir!" stammered Benito, bowing profusely at Aizen. "Please forgive me my impertinence! I—I have no right to ask such things. If you wish to punish me, then I will gladly submit to any—"

"—No need for any punishment," reassured Aizen, grinning slightly as he turned to face Benito, "I'm glad you asked me these questions. As Orihime's new health practitioner, you need to know all the details as to how she came to be in her current condition. You must become privy to them..."

"Uh—Yes Sir! Again, please forgive me!" he said, bowing to Aizen for the thirtieth time, while his black hair swished around like he was in a wind tunnel.

"This all started back when Orihime first arrived in Las Noches," began Aizen, as his eager listener's ears pointed in the direction of his voice. "In fact, it was during her first night here, while she was fast asleep that I slipped into her bedchamber. One reason I brought her here was so that I would know for certain if she would be able to conceive my child, otherwise I figured I may not have much use for her. But, I have come to realize now that she is more useful to me than merely becoming the mother of my child..."

"Wait!" screamed Benito, "Are you saying that you somehow managed to seduce Orihime-sama way back when she first got here? That almost doesn't make sense, unless you...you..."

"What I really did that night," continued Aizen, his voice even keel, as Benito tucked in his chin as a way of forcing himself to curb his outbursts, "was very simple. I used Kyouka Suigetsu to make Orihime believe I was her beloved nakama, Kurosaki Ichigo. I made her partly awaken in a semi-conscious state, not awake enough to fully comprehend what was going on, but enough so she could respond to me as if she were having a pleasant dream. Surely, I believed that even a girl like her would not so easily give up her virginity to even the boy she loved, but if she were still asleep enough to believe she were dreaming, then it would be easy for me to play the part of that boy, and do that every night until she finally conceived. I did this with her for three straight nights until we had confirmed that she was with child. Every morning after, she awoke from what she thought was an erotic dream about the boy she left behind, not suspecting a thing..."

Benito gasped at the revelation, receiving his first up-close and personal insight into Aizen's unscrupulous tendencies. Gin snickered from his wall at the easily jostled young man. Aizen drew a satisfied grin on his own face, perhaps for a job well done.

Benito tried to shake off his nerves to deal with the facts of the situation. He was, after all, called to become an attending physician and he knew he needed a thicker layer of skin. "So, you never wanted her to know that you violated her? Uh—excuse me! I didn't mean to say that!" He quickly covered his mouth, shaking his head at his utter failure to ground himself.

"I have no interest in forcing myself onto a woman—such a thing is hardly necessary for _me._ Although, with Orihime, even _I_ am at a disadvantage. But, I knew I needed her to conceive as soon as possible. I had no time to make her warm up to me enough for her to allow me to seduce her willingly, so I resorted to hypnosis."

"Uh, yes, I suppose that is your special power, Sir. Of course you would use it," said Benito, clocking himself on the forehead with an open hand. "So! When do I get to examine Orihime-sama! I'm very excited to see her!"

"Oh, that's not going to happen just yet," said Aizen, cocking one eyebrow above the other. "It is very important that she continue to believe she is not pregnant for the time being. When we are officially married, and that must happen immediately, then she will notice the changes in her own body. Because she will suspect why she's experiencing her symptoms, she will naturally seek you out, instead. Let this train of events take place, for she will surely notice her condition in due course. It is imperative that she not suspect me of any previous foul play..."

"Aizen-taichou is earning Orihime-chan's respect," stated Gin. He seemed to be enjoying the deliciously devious nature of his long-time master. "So, he can't go and spill the beans about something like this."

"I see, Sir," said Benito, bowing carefully to Aizen. "Then, I will do as you command. You have my word that I will not even speak to Orihime-sama until she comes to seek help for her condition. And, I will only speak of her condition when I am informing her of it, after she has submitted herself to proper testing, et cetera. It will be as if I never came to see you today, I solemnly swear..."

"Precisely what I wanted to hear, Benito...You see, Orihime must come to trust me because my entire ambition rests solely upon her. I cannot accomplish my goals without her."

"Really? I thought you needed to make the King's Key out of the Jyuu-Reishi in the World of the Living?"

"Yes, that was the case at one point in time, but the creation of a King's Key is no longer necessary for me to rule Soul Society. When I gain Orihime's full cooperative trust, she will be willing to move mountains for me. Thus, when enough time has passed and she is perfectly trusting of me, _she_ will become the King's Key. Using her incredible, god-like abilities, she will remove every obstacle in my way of entering the Spirit King's realm. When we finally arrive at the locked doors that lead to the dimension, she will reject their very existence, making it possible for me to simply waltz in and take over. It will be all too easy..."

Aizen slouched back lazily in his big chair, glaring at the floor. So pristine and clear was the floor, he could see his own dubious, yet confident reflection in it with the way the lighting was arranged in the room. As he peered back at his own bright, golden eyes, he grinned like a mischievous cat holding the tail of a helpless mouse under his paw...

(...To be continued in Chapter 27...)


	27. Precious Nakama

**A/N**: Again, thank you to my readers for your reviews and comments! I hope you are all enjoying the story in some way, or other, and I hope Aizen seems in-character enough. Seems like I succeeded in shocking you all last chapter! LOL! I get a kick out of doing that... I'm gonna continue to write the rest of the story at a quicker pace—at least, that is my current plan. The end is near, finally...

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 27: "Precious Nakama"**

Orihime quaked in her bed, bolting up from the covers in a mad panic. She sat on the mattress in her bedroom, trembling, peering up at the ceiling as if she could see what was bothering her on a video screen.

"Kurosaki-kun! Oh no!" she screamed, holding her forehead with quivering fingers. "Something is horribly wrong. What's going on over there?"

She quickly jumped out of bed and threw on her white uniform, pulling a brush through her hair only a few times. In less than a minute, she was already out the door of her quarters and running down the outside hall towards the closest corridor.

"Where are you going?" asked a steady voice from behind before she could enter the dark corridor. She stopped and turned back to see Ulquiorra standing in front of her door, as if he had planned on entering.

"I need to go see my friends!" she said sternly, knitting her eyebrows at him. "I can sense something wrong with Kurosaki-kun and the others. I have to go help them!"

"I can sense something out-of-the-ordinary, as well, but I think you should leave them be to sort out there own problems now, Orihime-sama..."

"But, this is serious! I can't just ignore them!"

"Please, let them solve their own problems. You need to learn to let them go. After all, they shouldn't even be here—where they don't belong."

Orihime shook her frowning face at him like a small stubborn child. She wasn't about to do as he bade so easily this time. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, and exhaling quickly, she clenched her fists.

"No, Ulquiorra," she began, her voice firm, "I can sense that this is a dangerous situation that I must go to. I realize you're trying to take care of me, and it's your job to, but I insist on going to my friends at once. Let me go see them. If you're concerned about Aizen-san, I will speak with him later, on your behalf."

"I am not concerned with what Aizen-sama will think if I let you go see your friends," he said calmly. "My only concern is with you, Orihime-sama. I have been entrusted to oversee your well-being, and I will do that until I breathe my last breath. If you insist on seeing your friends, then I will support you in that, but you must allow me to escort you there. That is my condition, as I would be neglecting my duties if I let you roam Las Noches all by yourself. We can't have your stubborn friends trying to abduct you again..."

"Ah, y—yes! Please come with me!" she spouted, stammering with pleasant surprise at his approval. The time of her full confinement was now past, but she still had to be accompanied by a trusted individual everywhere she went. She started to jog down the corridor ahead of him. Moments later, he came from behind her and scooped her up in his arms.

"This will be much faster, my lady," he said, as she slowly comprehended why she was all of a sudden flying down the corridor.

"Alright," she said softly, glancing at his big green eyes as he stared straight ahead. He placed only one foot on the ground a few times, hopping around a good portion of Las Noches before they made it to their destination. After Ulquiorra set her back down on her feet, she ran towards the group of people now before her, only to reel back in horror a moment later.

"Ah—what is this?" she shrieked, holding her hands out in front of her. There in the large hall stood some strange masked creature with two pointed horns on top of his head and long flowing orange hair. He was completely motionless, yet audibly breathing, his skin as pale as death itself. He held the second released version of Ichigo's Zangetsu in his right hand.

"No—no! There's no way that's Kurosaki-kun! How could this be him? What is this creature?"

"Inoue?!" shouted a stupefied voice in her direction. "You're here?!"

"Kuchiki-san!" said Orihime, beaming a wide smile over at Rukia. But, only for a second could they both be distracted by each other when the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the center of the room couldn't help but hold everyone's constant attention. Orihime closed her eyes and looked away from him, her expression pained. "Kuro...saki...-kun?"

"Yes, Inoue," said Rukia, her eyes fixed on the creature, "I'm afraid this is, in fact, Ichigo."

"_Huh—how?!"_ she asked, as the pitch of her voice climbed a few octaves.

"We don't really understand how it's been happening, but as we've been trying to deal with Ichigo's hollow, it's been progressively worsening over time. It just keeps on evolving into a stronger force practically by the hour, and this is what it looks like at the moment. It is terrifying to say the least..."

Rukia looked down at the ground, and then quickly moved her eyes to her left, motioning to Orihime to look in that direction herself. As she panned over, Orihime saw the wreckage of broken concrete strewn about all over the floor, and a breathless, Hisagi Shuuhei panting for his life. As he began to stand upon his wobbly legs, it was evident that his entire body was covered in gashes and fresh blood. And, then there was the ghastly sight of his entire left arm still lying on the ground behind him.

"This thing has broken every form of kidou used on it, no matter who was casting the spells," said Renji to Orihime as he stood only feet away from Rukia. "As you can see, even our only captain here is getting torn to pieces."

Shuuhei tried his best to steady his feet and slow his breathing, as Rangiku stood behind him, her hand reaching out as if to stay him from moving. He slowly pulled out his zanpakuto from the sheath at his left hip, and narrowed his serious eyes at the beast.

"No, Shuuhei!" shouted Rangiku. "Don't do it!"

"Reap, Kazeshini..." he commanded, as the blade and hilt of his sword suddenly turned into a double hooked sickle right in the palm of his hand. Connected to the long chain from the bottom of the weapon lay another sickle, identical to the first one, on the ground, for the wielder could not hold his entire weapon.

"How can you use Kazeshini with only one arm?" pleaded Rangiku, stepping nearer to him.

"Please, stay back, Rangiku," he urged. "If I don't survive this battle, then just know that _I love you_—I always have ever since I first laid eyes on you! Don't forget me!"

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets! Tears began to stream down her plump cheeks, as she looked helplessly on. Shuuhei charged at the hollowified Ichigo, wailing his battle cry, as he twirled the sickle by its metal chain, making it look like a high-powered fan. Launching it directly at the beast of Ichigo, he merely moved his head out of the line of fire as if a fly were buzzing around his ear. Shuuhei stopped in mid-charge, baffled and gasping. The hollow grabbed the chain as it flew past him, redirecting it's trajectory back in the opposite direction, towards Shuuhei. He flung it too quickly even for the owner to dodge it in time, as it smashed head on into the young man's handsome face, sending him flying backwards into the debris.

"_No!"_ screamed Rangiku, as she fled to his side. His Kazeshini immediately returned to its sealed form, as Shuuhei was as unresponsive as a corpse. "Orihime! Please come quick!"

Orihime's ears perked as she tried to run over to her, but something suddenly slammed into her. Jostled, she glanced down at her ride side to see little Nel desperately clutching at her. "Orihime! You have to help Itsygo! You can help make him Itsygo again! Pwease!!"

"_Huh?!"_ said a few voices in unison. Renji, Rukia, Uryuu and Chad all turned to look back at Nel and Orihime.

"Is that true, Inoue?" asked Renji, his eyes registering his confusion.

"Hey, I bet she can do it, right Orihime-chan?" Shinji sauntered over to her, nonchalantly throwing his unsheathed zanpakuto over his right shoulder. "It'll save me the trouble of fighting him, which would probably end in my death, anyway."

"Hirako-kun," said Orihime, squeezing her face into a short smile at him, her relief evident.

"We've been trying to deal with him without killing him for days now, but I doubt any of us could kill him while he's like this, even if we tried."

"What?!" she said, horror rushing over her eyes. "Don't kill him!"

"Well, if you can fix him, then we won't need to now, _will we..." _said Shinji, deepening his voice as he finished his sentence. "I'll hold him down while you wrap him in your Rikka shield. Sound good?"

"Uh—yes!" piped Orihime, as two of her hairpin petals flew out from the side of her head.

Shinji peeled his eyes off Orihime, moving them, and then his head, over in the direction of the creature in the center of the human circle. He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully, holding his eyelids shut for a moment before slowly opening them again. Gripping his zanpakuto by the hilt a little tighter than he was used to, he stepped his right foot out about a yard in front of the other and slightly bent his gangly, yet sturdy knees.

"...Here goes nothin'..."

(...To be continued in Chapter 28...)


	28. To Shatter Fate

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 28: "To Shatter Fate"**

"This guy really is a pain..." Shinji reached his right hand up to the top of his blond forehead, motioning as if pulling something down over his face. Suddenly, a white, bony mask appeared over it, helmeting his head, which gave him two holes for his eyes to peer out of. They glowed bright yellow. Renji gasped at him, shooting a glance over at Rukia nearby, but she had already begun to rush to Rangiku and the fallen Shuuhei, in order to give him aid with her kidou.

"This Hirako guy is like Ichigo, eh?" Renji mumbled to himself. "I don't understand why there are all these shinigami with hollow powers. It's unnatural..."

Shinji pushed off the ground with his leading foot, and a split second later, crossed swords with the evolved form of Ichigo's hollow, while floating in mid-air. He pushed off the creature's tattooed chest with his feet, flipping backwards one time over, but it had no effect on knocking Ichigo down. He charged at him again, swinging his sword harder, but still clashing with the hollow's zanpakuto. Jumping up the full length of his body, Shinji hurled a massive kick to the beast's horned head, but it only caused it to bobble a little.

"So, ya aren't gonna go down easy, are ya?" he said, glaring at the black abyss which were the hollow's eyes. Orihime began to show visible concern for Shinji's success in subduing Ichigo. He glanced back in her direction. "Don't worry, Orihime-chan. I got this under control." She knitted her eyebrows as her two healing fairies floated about on standby.

Shinji glanced back over at the Ichigo monster, sighing to himself. Pointing the blade of his sword squarely at Ichigo, he shot out a lightning-fast cero at close range, as it crashed into Ichigo's mid-section before he could dodge it. He almost looked as though he wouldn't have tried to dodge it, anyway, but the blast knocked the pallid Ichigo flat on his back. Another split second later and Shinji stood on top of his legs, crouching down, with the tip of his blade aimed squarely at his abdomen. He thrust it through his gut, so far in that it came out the other side, pinning Ichigo to the ground like a staked vampire nailed to the inside of a coffin.

"_Orihime—now!!"_ screamed Shinji, as Orihime's two fairies flew with amazing speed over to Ichigo, forming a shield as they traveled. Shinji waited on Ichigo's legs until the shield began to lower over his body, then leapt forcefully out of the way. The shield formed itself into a dome just large enough to fully encompass the hollow as he lay on the ground. He began attempting to sit up, pulling Shinji's zanpakuto up by the handle to remove the blade from his stomach.

"It—It's no good!" yelled Renji, eyes blazing, "He's just gonna free himself from the ground and crack open the shield from the inside!"

"Will he?" asked Shinji, deepening his voice. No longer masked, he glanced inquisitively over at Orihime. She peered back at him standing next to her, her expression rather determined, yet revealing some minute amount of wavering confidence. She slowly walked over to the lighted dome, the palm of her right hand extended out towards it with her left hand resting on top—an effort to increase her control over its stability.

The Ichigo hollow raised himself up on his feet after tossing Shinji's sword off to the side. Everyone watched in horror as he lifted his hand up above his head, aiming for the center of the dome with a tightly clenched fist. He punched it, but no sooner had he done that, than he found himself sitting back down on his behind only a second later.

"Wh—What happened?" asked Uryuu, his eyes throbbing at the bewildering scene. "Did the shield just repel him?"

The Ichigo monster stood up again, punching the dome from the side, but was met with the same repelling force, again—a force that moved his entire body back into the center of the shield, as the shield itself remained unchanged.

"So, he can't break the shield, after all..." mused Shinji, grinning widely at Orihime from behind.

Everyone watched as a slow transformation evolved before their eyes. They could see, as the trapped beast stood motionless inside the shield, that his skin gradually began to change from white to flesh-toned. The horns jutting out of the top of the mask began to shrink in size. Slowly, but surely, the existence of the monster began to be erased from reality. The onlookers watched in awe as the original owner of that possessed soul carefully re-emerged into existence.

A grueling twenty-four hours passed before the fully restored, original Ichigo, spiky orange hair and all, even began to open his eyes for the first time since he lost consciousness to his inner hollow. By this time, he lay flat on his back, wearing only a black hakama, arms splayed out at his sides with his palms facing up. Orihime never once nodded off for a nap, but instead knelt beside her shield as it enveloped her patient with loving care.

"_Uh—huh? A shield?"_ mumbled Ichigo, glaring out through his muddled vision at the dome that covered him overhead. "Could it be...Inoue's...shield?"

"Kurosaki-kun," said Orihime, her voice soft, as she gave him a worn-out smile. Ichigo jerked his head to see her drooping eyes staring back at his. The light from the shield made her eyes shimmer, revealing the joy in her expression, despite her otherwise weary appearance. He blinked at her as each one made his eyes grow wider and wider.

"Inoue..." he said, pushing himself up from his hands. He sat and peered out in a panoramic view of everyone spread out around him, all in resting poses, and at different distances from him. One lone white figure stood very far off in the distance, but he was too confused to worry about it. "What—what happened? I don't remember anything...after... That's right—I let my inner hollow to take over so I could defeat Aizen! But, I don't remember anything after that, at all!"

"Everything's alright now, so pipe down," said Shinji, stepping into Ichigo's field of view by the shield. "Orihime-chan," he said, gently caressing the top of her head, "you can stop healing him now. He's good enough..."

"Healing me?" said Ichigo, looking at his hands and arms. He placed a hand on his bare chest and rubbed himself over his sternum and upper abdominal muscles. "But, why?"

"She healed ya because ya became this really freaky creature-thing that kept tearing off people's limbs. It was either that, or we would have had to kill ya, if we could have figured out how, that is..."

"No way! Seriously? I was some kind of monster? I didn't hurt Inoue, did I?"

"No, not at all," said Orihime, as her healing fairies flew back to her hairpin. Just as that happened, she blacked-out. Shinji quickly grabbed her shoulders and she woke back up again. She drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Wait—what's wrong with her?" asked Ichigo, rising to his feet.

"She's just exhausted, that's all. It took an entire day to restore you to normal, you stubborn idiot," said Renji, walking up from behind him. Ichigo turned back to glance at him as they gave each other a pair of brusque smiles.

"Glad to see you're in one piece, Renji," said Ichigo, before panning around to look for more people. He turned back toward Orihime's direction. "So, Inoue, you were the one who returned me to myself. It's amazing that you can even do that..."

"Uh—Kurosaki-kun," she said, standing on her own after Shinji pulled her up by the arms, and steadied her footing, "there's something I have to tell you about that... The thing is that... the only way I was able to save you was... to reject the existence of your inner hollow..."

Ichigo gasped, as did most of those within hearing range of her voice.

"You mean, my inner hollow is gone? It—it's completely gone now?"

"Y—yes," she replied, nodding with her chin tucked down. She glanced back at him with a look of guilt and the hope of approval.

"...Well... I guess you did what you had to do, Inoue. It's alright. Actually, I never really wanted that thing inside me in the first place..."

"Hey, hey," interjected Shinji, kicking Ichigo's behind, "this means you've lost all the extra powers you gained from having that hollow inside you, idiot. Don't you realize that?"

"Inoue saved me. I don't care if that means the hollow is gone now. By saving me, she saved the rest of your lives, and gave me the chance to exist as myself again. How can I have a problem with that? After all, I'm still a shinigami, right?"

Orihime nodded emphatically, her eyes beaming the affirmative at him as fiercely as she could.

"So, he's a normal shinigami again," stated Renji, placing a hand on his hip as he peered at Shinji. "As far as I'm concerned, that's preferable to whatever the hell you guys are."

"Thank you, Inoue," said Ichigo, softening his gaze upon her. "As repayment for all the hard work you've done, I'll be getting you out of here now."

Ichigo stepped a few paces towards her, grabbing her waist and opposite shoulder with both hands, when suddenly a smothering reiatsu began to rapidly expand from behind her.

"That is out of the question," said the tempered voice, as the reiatsu grew steadily larger still.

"_Ulquiorra!"_ spat Ichigo through clenched teeth. "Have you been here the entire time?"

"My lady, Orihime-sama, is not to wander around Las Noches without a proper escort," he said, as he capped his own spirit pressure. "Naturally, I've been standing here since before she began rejecting your hollow form."

"Why are you calling her that?" asked Ichigo. "Does this mean that Aizen still intends to marry Inoue?"

"_Precisely..."_ Ichigo's eyes bugged out of their sockets. He shot a glance at Orihime in front of him, releasing her from his grasp. "You did not defeat Aizen-sama while in that form. Orihime-sama is still destined to become Aizen-sama's queen, but you will never know when, or where the solemnizing will take place."

"Inoue doesn't want that life, so you can't make decisions for her like that!" shouted Ichigo. Orihime cast a glance down to the ground. Ichigo noticing, grew confused, concerned.

"Do you know that for certain?" asked Ulquiorra, walking closer to Orihime from behind. "Have you ever asked this woman what it is she truly wants?"

Orihime's unease caused Ichigo's own bewilderment to fester, as he fixed his eyes upon her, studying her body language. "What's he talking about, Inoue? He can't mean that you actually want to marry that evil bastard? That can't be!"

"Kurosaki-kun..." she said, beginning to tremble, "I—It's true. I decided to go through with it. I—I'm gonna do it..."

"What? But, why? This doesn't make any sense to me, Inoue! Why do you want to do something like that?"

"I know it's hard to understand, but I have to do it. I really think I can make a difference this way—make things better for everyone else."

"Don't sacrifice yourself like that," said Ichigo, bending down to her eye level. "None of your friends here want you to give up your happiness for our sakes."

"But, I think I can change him! I can bring out the good in him and convince him to change his mind about his goals. He doesn't have to go through with any of them, and I may be able to make him see the error of his ways!"

"Inoue," said Rukia, her voice firm, but caring, "Every woman thinks she can change her man, but that is only a foolish girl's dream. Men have to be willing to change on their own..."

"Listen to Rukia, Inoue," said Renji, folding his arms. "Men are stubborn and slow to change. And, a guy like Aizen-taichou, well—he's the sort that's least likely to ever change for the better."

"I hear you all—but, but..." Orihime trailed off, turning away from them in embarrassment as she turned a light shade of pink. Ulquiorra looked at Orihime right in front of him, then glanced over at her friends now behind her.

"You fools stand no chance of altering the fate of this woman, regardless of what you say to her now. She is one of our comrades, whether with us, or with you. That will not change anything. But, so long as Aizen-sama desires her, she will be his, and there is no power in any of you to stop it... We will be taking our leave now..."

"Wait!" pleaded Ichigo. "Inoue, please don't do this. We know not all hope is lost in saving you. We can take you back home by force. We can free you from Aizen! Just believe in us! You're the only reason we all came here!"

"Yeah, we're not taking 'no' for an answer," said Renji, gruffly, as he began walking towards Orihime. Ulquiorra glared at him with a fierceness reminiscent of an attack dog's. Rukia grabbed his meaty forearm, tugging him back towards her.

"Renji," she started, peering up at his face as it towered above hers, "Ichigo already told us who this guy is. He's Ulquiorra Cifer, La Cuarta Espada—someone you can't take so lightly!" Renji's expression widened into shock, but soon after, he relented, backing away with Rukia.

"I know you believe you're doing the right thing, Inoue," said Ichigo, in all earnestness, "But, you have to understand that there's no need for you to do this. We will save you—_I will save you!_ Don't tell me that all I've been through trying to rescue you was for nothing!"

"No, I would never say that to you!" said Orihime, turning back to him as the flood gates burst open, releasing two rivers of tears that began to stream down her flushed cheeks. "K—Kurosaki-kun... I..."

Ichigo reached out, taking a hold of her chin with his thumb and index finger, lifting it up meet his own face. With the same hand, he gently brushed away the stream of tears on her right cheek, smiling softly at her. "You don't have to cry anymore, Inoue. Just let me take you home with me..."

"I—I can't do that," she said, the flow of her tears becoming even stronger. "I made a vow—I promised I would do this. I can't go back on my word! Believe me! It's for the best!" She turned away and trudged over to Ulquiorra, burying her face in her hands...

"_No!"_ shouted Ichigo, baring his teeth. "Listen to me, Inoue! Don't give up! Don't give in to despair. I am here for you, and _I refuse to leave Hueco Mundo without you!!"_

Orihime stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning to glance back at Ichigo, her eyes wild with amazement. Forgetting to breathe, she peered into Ichigo's determined eyes staring right back at her—a look she had seen from him before. But, this time, _she_ was the one on whom he had fixed his resolve.

"I won't... I won't let you leave me, Inoue!" Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist and flew off the ground, fleeing the scene. Everyone gasped in unison. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes at him, keeping track of their position.

"Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" screamed Orihime into Ichigo's ear. "Put me down! Put me down! _Please, Kurosaki-kun!"_

"_I can't... I can't do that. _I won't do it, Inoue!" he screamed back.

"_Please! Put me down—put me down!!" _She began to wail and cry, and Ichigo, scorching under the intense emotional pressure, finally gave into her pleas, and set her down onto a nearby platform.

"Inoue, why?" he begged, breathless and panting, "Why won't you let me take you home? You belong with me in Karakura Town. We belong together! You know it!" Though tired and trembling, he trudged over to embrace her face in his hands, hovering his head just inches above hers, as tears streamed down both their cheeks. "Please come back with me," he whispered, "I need you. I can't go on with my life without you. Don't make me do that..."

Despite her extreme exhaustion, she couldn't believe her ears. His words filled her with astonishment. He closed the gap between their noses, placing a gentle kiss on her lips, as her entire body turned into unstable matter. She felt like she might collapse beneath him, but he held onto her shoulders to keep her steady. Just then, Ulquiorra appeared behind her, his expression serious.

"Please say you'll go back with me, Inoue," said Ichigo gently, still only inches from her face. She held his gaze for a moment, then turned to glance back at Ulquiorra, meeting his firm eyes set upon her. She blinked, as her face became crestfallen with the remembrance of reality. She turned back to Ichigo, again. Lowering her gaze down at her feet, she shows Ichigo the top of her head for a few moments. A look of panic grows on his face—his mouth widens, his tears flow forcefully down his cheeks...

It seems to her that he's screaming, even _desperately_ screaming at the top of his lungs, as Ulquiorra takes her away from him. But, she can't be certain, as she watches his image gradually shrink the further she flies away from him. Some strange state of mind takes over within her in that moment, the moment she backs away from Ichigo. It seems to pass so slowly, so lacking motion—soundless, wordless, thoughtless. It whets a new pain inside her like an ax sharpener, shattering something fragile like glass—so deep, so far beneath the bottom, she ceases to sense, or feel anything at all...

(...to be continued in Chapter 29...)


	29. The Sun Goddess

**A/N: **It's a short chapter...on purpose...

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Chapter 29: "The Sun Goddess"**

Aizen gently squeezed Orihime's hand, as he had taken it moments earlier, before they arrived at the doors of the quiet, tucked away room. They walked towards the white double doors, attendants on either side waiting to open them at Aizen's command.

"You don't seem too cheerful today, Orihime," he observed, his own demeanor that of a contented kitten with a ball of yarn. "Has anything happened recently?"

"Uh—no!" she spat out. But, the melancholy simply hung from her eyes like the wilted petals of a flower lacking sunlight. "I'm fine, Aizen-san—really..."

"Hmm... Alright. I believe you..."

Orihime glanced up at his face and then back down to the ground, her hand dangling from his like a toddler holding hands with her big brother. There was no way a cunning man like Aizen couldn't see right through her verbal facade, as it was as obvious as the presence of clouds during a rainstorm. She couldn't turn off the constant thoughts in her mind of poor screaming Ichigo, and the rending of her heart, as she knew she'd never see him, nor any of her friends again. She had made up her mind. She was staying with Aizen, and going with Aizen where ever he decided to take her. It was a hard decision to make, and it made her stomach queezy—at least that's what she believed made her feel sick to her stomach. Enough to actually wretch just before leaving her chamber.

Aizen suddenly cupped her cheek in his free hand, gently gliding his thumb and fingers back-and-forth over her smooth skin. Her eyes brightened, if anything, from the face-to-face confrontation, as he leaned in to get a better look at her.

"That's more like it," he said, her face visibly lifting, but not necessarily because she somehow found joy in that moment. Such things like how one would arrive at an end didn't matter to Aizen. Results alone reigned supreme. "I'm sure you're just nervous. It's actually going to happen this time..." Orihime gulped as she stared down the bright doors just in front of them. "Once we open these doors, we will perform the ceremony, and then we will officially become husband and wife. Or, should I say, king and queen?"

_Queen?_ Such a concept made absolutely no sense to Orihime, so she could only stare blankly back at him. She figured she'd do whatever he told her to do, but try to get him to change his mind whenever he wanted to do something really unconscionable. She had no idea what he meant by using the word "queen" to describe her future title.

"I suppose we should be doing this in the morning hours, when you shine brightest," he said, straightening up his back. "The evening is an odd hour to perform a wedding ceremony, but, by doing it at this time, we keep the possibility of unwanted intruders discovering us to a minimum."

"Yes, that's true..." she nodded, glancing back down at the ground again. She was fond of holding her free hand over her heart in moments when she felt deeply affected.

"Have you heard the story of Amaterasu—the Japanese sun goddess?" he asked, unexpectedly. "She's probably the most important deity from your culture's heritage..."

"I know some things about her," she said, sullenly, "But, not all that much. Why do you ask?"

"Because I find her rather fascinating, and I'd like to relate her story to you, then, if you don't mind..." he said, swinging her hand in his, forward and back a little. She kept quiet, giving him the freedom to lead into his narrative.

"...Her legacy began when, one day, she decided to trap herself in a cave to hide from her brother when he began to destroy her rice fields. Because of this, the entire world darkened and everything began to wither and die. The gods decided they needed a way to lure her out of that cave, so they made a huge commotion, which she heard from inside. She poked her head out to see what was causing all the noise. The other gods said they had discovered a new goddess, and they placed a large mirror in front of Amaterasu, for she had never before seen the image of herself. As she gazed at the beautiful, luminescent goddess in the mirror, she was fascinated by her.

"When she had been lured out of the cave sufficiently, the other gods closed the opening, and proceeded to beg to her return to the Celestial Plain, her home, in order to embrace the world with her life-giving light again. She agreed, and that is why the sun can rise each new day, giving nourishment to all forms of life, good and evil alike. Amaterasu is no respecter of persons. All life is precious to her. It is this being who is considered the literal matriarch of the Japanese Royal Family. They have historically considered themselves her direct descendants, the children of the rising sun..."

"—Oh... I never knew that much detail about her... That's a good story."

Letting go of her hand, Aizen reached out his left arm and wrapped it around her waist, placing it on her left hip. He pulled her into his side, as if trying to attach her to his ribs. He glanced down through all thirteen vertical inches of space between them.

"It is time to take the sun goddess back to the Celestial Plain, _where she rightfully belongs..."_ he whispered into her ear, deepening the tone of his voice. Orihime's eyes widened as she peered up at his bright, golden eyes, which seemed afire at that moment. Suddenly, the white doors before them flew open, as a flood of light bathed them in warmth and radiance. They stepped forward, synchronizing their feet, as they entered the mysteriously lighted room that awaited to bind them together forever...

(...To be continued...)


	30. Epilogue: The King and His Queen

**A/N: **This is the last chapter, everybody. It may seem to you like more should be written, and you'd be right to think that. This story has a whole lot of potential to branch off into several different directions. But, I hope you all understand that I have to get on with my life, seeing as how writing fan fiction is just not paying my bills, lol. I've been writing this one story for 1 ½ years now, and it is SERIOUSLY time for me to finish it. Honestly, I don't have the time nor energy to continue any further, so I wanted to technically "finish" it, even if the story still could go on for quite a bit longer.

So, I'm sorry that I have to speedily end it with the epilogue already, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I hope you all understand. It is just a fan fiction, after all, and nothing to take too seriously. I wanted to illustrate their relationship in this part, and sum it all up as a conclusion. It's just a short glimpse into their lives, but I don't have the time to spare anymore than this, and devising more scenes and interesting plots, etc. has become impossible.

I've had fun writing it, nevertheless, from beginning to end, and I thank everyone who has read and reviewed it! And, if you have questions about the story, feel free to ask them in your reviews, or however you'd like, and I'll respond as promptly as I can...

_**The Artificial Sun Also Sets**_

**Epilogue: "The King and His Queen"**

Aizen sighed softly as he exhaled at the sheets hovering a few inches away from his nose. He could smell something very distinctive wafting its way into his bedroom from somewhere else nearby. Such an odd odor made him open his eyes slightly, as his vision came into focus. He rolled onto his back, breathing in more heavily this time, his rib cage rising and falling in order. He put his hands behind the back of his brown hair while still resting his head on the large pillow, his sheets falling down to his waist, exposing his bare torso.

He glanced over to his left to see the other side of his bed empty, the covers still strewn about. "I wonder what she's doing today?" he asked himself. With that, he sat up in bed, his covers draped around his legs as he slid into a thin kimono that barely covered his nakedness. As it hung loosely over his tall, chiseled frame, he tied the sash into a bow at his waist. He walked over to the curtains, pulling them back to reveal the morning sun of his fortress, Las Noches. Walking barefoot, he left the bedroom and followed his nose into the nearby kitchen where Orihime busily cooked some confusing concoction, or other.

Quietly, he sneaked up from behind her, placing his hands gently on her large belly, as he rested his chin on her little shoulder. "The smell of your cooking woke me up..." he whispered into her ear. She giggled under her breath, quickly snapping around to face him.

"Sousuke!" she said, throwing her arms up behind his neck, giving him a quick smooch on the lips. "This morning, I'm making parfait over rice and Donut Oden. And, right after that, bean paste steak! It's gonna be great!"

Aizen mildly chuckled at her, as she turned back to the stove. "Are those even foods you're supposed to eat for breakfast? Seems unseasonal to be eating Oden in the summertime..."

"Aww..." she said, turning back to pretend scold him with her wagging index finger. She was wearing a frilly pink apron that somehow managed to fit over her well developed midsection with a pretty summer dress. And, somehow, the entire scene fit her perfectly. "...I never worry about stuff like that! Maybe you'll like it, if you try it!"

"Of course I will, my dear... You're an excellent cook, but you take strange pregnancy cravings farther than I've ever heard of, before," said Aizen, smoothing his fingers through his wavy, unkempt hair, as he straddled a wooden chair at the breakfast table nearby. He lifted a mug of freshly brewed tea up to his lips, taking a sip. Before he knew it, he began a small coughing fit, which he recovered from quickly, after patting himself on the chest. Orihime turned to look at him, but he smiled back as if nothing were wrong. _"One of these days I'm going to have to teach her how to brew tea..."_ he mumbled to himself.

"What was that, Sousuke?" asked Orihime, while still flipping pots and pans around all over the stove and counter top.

"Ah—nothing! I believe I feel like drinking water this morning, instead."

"Of course!" she chirped, beaming a large grin at him. After setting down his glass of water, she held her belly as she waited for the food to finish cooking. Her eyes glazed over as if she were in a reverie, as she stood near the breakfast table.

"What's on your mind, Orihime?" he asked, sipping his water. "You seem lost in a dream."

"Oh—was I?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head, a little embarrassed. "Well, you see, I... The baby is only a month from being born. He—he's coming so soon. I feel... a little nervous..."

Aizen moved back his chair and walked over to her, grabbing one of her hands, and one of her cheeks with the other hand. He leaned down to gently kiss the other cheek, holding her face near his, peering into her eyes. "This is your first child, my love. It's normal to be nervous before the baby is born. If I didn't think you'd make an excellent mother, I wouldn't have brought you to my palace. You have nothing to worry about as you will have all the help you need at your disposal. Our son will be so fortunate to have the best mother that could ever exist..."

She blushed at his words, blinking a few times as if trying to comprehend them. "Thank you for the kind words, but I can't help it. I think I'm just gonna be worried until he finally gets here, and then, I don't know what I'm gonna do, other than be worried still!" She visibly began working herself up into a flurry.

Aizen wrapped his arms around her back, pressing her face into the opening of his kimono, up against his chest. He let out a long sigh, rubbing his hand up and down her spine.

"My little Orihime, who worries even when she's with me, Aizen Sousuke. You know there's nothing to fear when _I_ am by your side, supporting you, don't you?" He asked it more rhetorically, not expecting an answer. Still, he narrowed his eyebrows down at the floor behind her, as this only indicated just how difficult her mind was for him to mold into whatever shape he desired. He felt he was making progress as she had been clearly more accepting of him as her husband more and more over the months since the wedding. Still, he felt the challenge of doing it made the whole process even more satisfying. After all, he chose her because she had a mind of her own.

"All that matters is you, Orihime," he said, stroking the back of her head, as she looked up at his face. "Right now, you're as beautiful as the sun on a summer morning."

"Well, I have been looking more like a big round ball lately, haven't I?" she said, smirking. As the odor of the cooking food on the stove began to intensify, she jerked her head over towards the kitchen. "Oh—the food's gonna burn soon!"

"Well, let's eat," said Aizen, taking his seat, again. Orihime put the rice in two glasses with the topping, and carried the pot of eggs and fish parts, swimming amongst a few odd additives, placing them on the table. Aizen lifted some Oden into his mouth with a pair of chop sticks, chewing a couple of times while smiling gratuitously at Orihime, sitting across the table from him. He hoped the grinning would hide his displeasure at what was swishing around inside his mouth at the moment. He giggled out loud so as to indicate to her that he was enjoying his meal. She easily giggled in return, since it was easy for her to get excited whenever she ate her own unusual cooking...

* * * * *

...And, so the morning wore on like so many others that came before and after it, scene after scene of apparent wedded bliss—all culminating into something much larger than a simple rule over Hueco Mundo. Aizen had a goddess to return to her true home and a throne in another dimension to take over. He had a progeny to build, a family legacy to oversee.

When that fateful day finally came, the day when he felt his little family of three was finally ready for their destiny, he brought Orihime to the gates of her new home. It was the perfect home fit only for the queen of the heavens—the sun herself. They bade farewell to the artificial sun of Las Noches as it set in its sky for the last time, it's own brightness and warmth being no match for the real thing...

...The End.


End file.
